Today Eyes on Animals and MHS Consultancy visited the cattle slaughterhouse FamilyBeef in Epe, formerly known as Gosschalk. Since its acquisition by FamilyBeef, the facility has stopped slaughtering pigs and now exclusively slaughters cattle (including dairy cows and calves).
During our visit, we assessed the waiting pens, raceways, stunning, and bleeding processes. Overall, the handling of the animals and the stunning procedure were relatively calm. However, we identified some areas for improvement:
- Reducing loud and abrupt noises: The sound from the pneumatic captive bolt pistol and the loud bangs produced when closing metal fences is stressful for the animals. FamilyBeef plans to install a wall between the stunning box and the driveway to mitigate some noise dispersion.
- Rubber under the sliding door in front of the stunning box: Placing rubber beneath the sliding door will prevent it from bumping and hurting the animal’s back when it accidentally closes too early.
- Have a separate, smaller stunning box for calves: The current stunning box is meant for adult cattle, and thus too large for calves. When stunning animals, it is important to target the right position of the head for proper unconsciousness, and thus it is important that the animals do not have too much space to move around. Although the calves were calm and stunned correctly during our visit, proper fixation will minimize risks.
- Less active herding: Animals often enter the stunning box rather calmly on their own. In our view, the use of herding tools on them at this point can be significantly reduced.
FamilyBeef was receptive to our suggestions to improve animal-welfare (reduce stress and problems) and is currently undergoing renovations. They will thus explore which of our recommendations can be implemented soon. Furthermore, FamilyBeef has expressed interest in receiving animal welfare training for their staff. Eyes on Animals, in collaboration with MHS Consultancy, will provide this training.
