Abattoir staff inflicted pain, fear and distress’ on sheep

Three workers sacked after secret cameras reveal horrors

- JANE DALTON CLAIRE COLLEY

Halal slaughterhouse staff slammed sheep hard onto concrete floors and played recordings of wolves to the terrified animals as they were dying, footage reveals.

In a string of acts captured by hidden cameras, workers also breached animal welfare laws in ways that an academic said would have inflicted immense pain, fear and distress”.

Sheep were inadequately killed, showing signs of life and suffering for up to four minutes after their throats were cut and when workers started dismembering them, an expert’s report says. But an official food standards inspector who was watching failed to act, according to the filmmaker who shot the scenes in secret.

The video, taken at a no-stun slaughterhouse in Arley, Warwickshire, showed five allegedly illegal types of activity, the analysis suggests. It began with the “extreme rough handling” of animals by staff as sheep were slammed into floors and walls and workers smacked a door into their faces, the video shows.

A mechanical restrainer of sheep for slaughter appeared ineffective, so many sheep escaped after their throats had been cut, according to Jenny L Mace, an associate lecturer in animal welfare and ethics at the University of Winchester.

Her report details how abattoir workers moved, hoisted and started to dismember sheep that were still conscious, with some animals showing signs of life more than two minutes after their throats were cut and even when workers had started to cut their legs off.

The investigation, carried out by animal rights filmmaker Joey Carbstrong, also showed sheep jumping barriers to try to escape as they were thrown or dragged into the restrainer before being killed.