Today we made an unannounced visit to VION in Boxtel. As witnessed by EonA in previous years we saw, many pig-trucks parked up along the public road. VION in Boxtel has a lairage but it is too small for the number of pigs they slaughter each hour, the pigs are left waiting until there is space available. This is a very undesirable situation at any time of the year but it is especially bad during hot and humid days. Last year Vion received a fine, after Eyes on Animals filed an enforcement request with the NVWA (Dutch Food and Safety Authority) when waiting times were extremely long increasing the pigs suffering during the intense heat. Fortunately, today the temperatures were about tolerable.
We hope VION in Boxtel will adjust their policy for the hot and humid days that we are experiencing on a more regular basis. We suggest they slaughter less pigs per hour (so trucks do not have to wait), and scheduling the arrival times to the cooler mornings and nights. We will of course keep a close eye on the situation. The drivers today were friendly, and they confirmed that waiting times at VION in Boxtel are often very long into the late afternoon.
