Animals’ Angels, Animal International, Animal Welfare Foundation, Ethical Farming Ireland, Eyes on Animals and Compassion in World Farming trail animals from all over the EU to slaughterhouses in far-away countries where they are exported to. The work of these fieldwork NGOs is crucial to expose what really happens to these animals. Good decisions can only be taken when the facts are known. For too long the live-animal export lobby groups and members of the EU Commission have made claims that animal-welfare is taken very seriously during export. Sadly, in reality, these NGO inspectors have documented over and over again how animals experience extreme suffering in slaughterhouses in the Middle East and North Africa. We do not want to point fingers on these countries for being worse than us in Europe, as animal welfare on our factory-farms and CO2 stunning of our pigs is also to be ashamed of. Yet, this is no excuse to tolerate any kind of suffering. We want to see a massive effort in exporting education on more humane slaughter techniques such as calm handling and less-cruel restraint techniques, good unloading ramps and raceways and stunning equipment, rather than on exporting live sentient beings knowing they will be harshly treated upon arrival.
The fact that animals are not first stunned before having their throats cut is just one of the concerns. The even bigger sources of suffering are the harsh, inhumane pre-slaughter handling, the cruel methods of restraint, and protracted throat cutting which can involve many sawing movements with a knife.
Cattle are roughly forced down to the ground by beating with sticks, people jumping on them, being tied up by rope and forced to fall or having their tendons slashed open. A hind leg of a bovine is often tied up and the bovine is hoisted fully alive off the floor and left dangling by one leg for some time before being cut, causing ruptures in the ligaments and even breaking legs.
Downer animals too sick or inured to walk off the trucks themselves are never put out of their misery quickly and compassionately but rather dragged out via chains tied around their horns, neck or legs to the kill floor. Often over long distances and obstacles, causing even more fear and extreme pain.
We are using this spreadsheet listing all the observations made in hundreds of abattoirs in the Middle East and North Africa where EU animals are slaughtered to make authorities, official veterinarian groups and journalists aware of the truth.
