Following the advice of Eyes on Animals, three Dutch pig slaughterhouses have implemented animal welfare improvements. They are Pali in Geldrop, Vion in Groenlo and Vion in Apeldoorn.
At Pali and Vion Groenlo several improvements were made so that when moving the pigs to the stunning area, they experience less stress. Changes include moving the pigs in smaller groups, removing sharp contrasts in the raceway and using better driving tools that produce less stress and noise, such as brushes, a water jet stream and a board.
Measures were taken as well to reduce heat stress. Vion Apeldoorn is building a canopy and hanging up fans so that at least the animals on trucks can benefit from some shade and wind while waiting to be unloaded. At Vion Groenlo extra fans have been placed in the unloading hall . Eyes on Animals is currently in discussion with this slaughterhouse about making even more improvements.
Although these improvements don’t guarantee that things will never go wrong, they do show that slaughterhouses are open to our visits and listen to our advice. Some priority is given to animal welfare. This has a positive effect on the welfare of millions of animals each year as suffering is reduced.
Read more about Pali in Geldrop >>
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Read more about Vion in Apeldoorn >>
