• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • EYES ON ANIMALS – Watching out for their Welfare
  • English
  • Nederlands
  • Deutsch

Eyes on Animals

Watching out for their Welfare

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
DONATE
  • About us
    • What we do
    • Our team
    • Key Figures
    • Contact
  • News
    • Latest news
    • Good news
    • Bad news
    • Subscribe to our newsletter
  • Inspections
    • Farms
    • Markets
    • Transports
    • Slaughterhouses
    • Special projects
    • Other
  • Training
    • Police
    • Truck drivers
    • Poultry-catchers
    • Slaughter personnel
    • Training Material
    • Request a training
  • Industry Tips
    • Animal transport
      • Cattle
      • Pigs
      • Poultry
    • Slaughterhouses
      • Cattle
      • Pigs
      • Poultry
      • Ritual slaughter
    • Educational videos
  • Publications
    • In the media
      • Print
      • Television
      • Radio
      • Videos
    • Newsletters
    • Special reports
    • Training Material
    • Annual reviews
  • Future Vision
  • Help us
Home » Our inspections » Inspection of Feenstra pig slaughterhouse and slaughter of Zonvarken’s pigs there

Inspection of Feenstra pig slaughterhouse and slaughter of Zonvarken’s pigs there

December 1, 2021

Today we visited Feenstra, a non-intensive slaughterhouse (20 pigs per hour) in The Netherlands with Beter Leven Keurmerk. We went today because the pigs from the new pig meat company “Zonvarken” were going to be slaughtered. We had advised Zonvarkens on what they could do to limit fear and pain during transport and slaughter of their animals. One of our suggestions was to not send their pigs to a slaughterhouses using CO2 to stun the pigs but also not to one using electric stunning where the slaughterline is very fast and stressful.

Feenstra seemed like the right choice. At Feenstra the handling of the pigs was very calm and professional. The pigs were manually  electrically stunned and remained together in a small group. The stunning was performed very well, we did not observe any animals incorrectly stunned or regaining consciousness. The pigs are unconscious in less than a second which is better than CO2 gas stunning where pigs have shortness of breath and panic for 15-30 seconds. There was also straw for the pigs that had to wait overnight in the lairage and there was play material in all pens. The pigs in the straw-bedded pens were particularly calm. Most were either sleeping or rooting.

As long as people eat meat and pigs will be slaughtered, then we prefere that pigs be slaughtered at a slaughterhouse such as this one where a lot of conscious effort is made by the owner and small staff to reduce fear and pain as much as possible. We’ve given tips to reduce hierarchical fighting among the intact male pigs and create a focal point in the stun pen (rack with straw) so that pigs are focused on something positive and the stun forceps can be placed even more easily. The owner was immediately willing to get started with this idea and the day after our visit had already ordered the racks. Additionally, we were allowed to photograph and film and we are welcome to come back whenever we like, also unannounced. We would like to thank Feenstra for their transparency and for their genuine efforts in keeping stress to a minimum and taking animal-welfare seriously.

  • share 
  • tweet 
  • share 
  • save 
  • email 

Filed Under: Our inspections, slaughterhouses Tagged With: pig slaughterhouse, slaughterhouse design, slaughterhouses

Primary Sidebar

Search

Featured

EonA director interviewed on Studio Plantaardig Podcast

Lesley Moffat from Eyes on Animals was guest on Studio Plantaardig today.  Listen to the interview … [Read More...] about EonA director interviewed on Studio Plantaardig Podcast

Featured

Fine for VION pig-slaughterhouse in Boxtel due to long waiting times in summer heat

An enforcement request by Eyes on Animals resulted in a fine for VION pig slaughterhouse in Boxtel … [Read More...] about Fine for VION pig-slaughterhouse in Boxtel due to long waiting times in summer heat

Our most recent newsletter

Dear friends,

I first discovered the bad side of factory-farming and industrial slaughter when I was a young girl of twelve.
When I visited a livestock market I saw a pile of sick animals left for dead behind the building. At a huge industrial poultry slaughterhouse, I saw dozens of live chickens walking around the bloody floor…

 

Read more…

Subscribe to our newsletter

Eyes on Animals op Twitter

Twitter feed is not available at the moment.

ANBI

Footer

Donate with Paypal

Paypal Eyes on Animals
One-time donation:
Monthly donation:

Reading Material

  • In the Media
  • Newsletters
  • Special EonA reports
  • Legislative texts
  • ANBI

Our Amsterdam Office

Amsterdam House Hotel
Eyes on Animals main office is in downtown Amsterdam, at the Amsterdam House Hotel. The generous and warm-hearted hotel owner donated to Eyes on Animals, free of charge, a beautiful room where our inspectors can work, hold meetings and store their material.

Copyright © 2023 · Eyes on Animals | Website by Webkompaan