We visited 2 slaughterhouses today not too far away from Bandirma in Turkey. The owner and slaughterers at both plants were very enthusiastic about the captive bolt stunners and the opportunity it gives them to render the animals unconscious prior to cutting their throat and a safer working environment. Asalet from our team taught them how to use it, where to aim, and how to clean and maintain it. The good news is that one plant will use it on the animals whose owners accept stunning. The bad news is that the other plant will not because it has a Halal certificate from the certifying company Gimdes and the owner of the plant is too scared Gimdes will remove his certificate and he will then lose customers. This is the vicious circle we often encounter in Turkey.
We are confronting the problem though and will continue trying to help Turkish slaughterhouses have access to modern technology that improves animal and worker welfare. Tomorrow we have a meeting with the authorities about this on-going problem.
