National Farmers Union condems Thirsk animal abuse as abhorrent and illegal

National Farmers Union condemns Thirsk

animal abuse as abhorrent and illegal

Frustrated by the lack of official comment (except from UKIP) regarding the animal abuse captured on video by Animal Aid especially from farming bodies and organisations I have written to the National Farmers Union, a large and powerful body, who represents the opinions and interests of UK farmers in general and The National Sheep Association who represents the interests of UK sheep Farmers.

The NFU so far are the only ones to reply....

I have redacted any names used for privacy reasons.

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My email to the NFU - Sent: 03/04/2015

Dear Sir or Madam

You must be aware of the news reports in today's media regarding the Bowood Farms Ltd (T/A Bowood Yorkshire Lamb) undercover abattoir footage released by Animal Aid.

The video shows extremely disturbing abuse being committed on sheep supposedly being humanely slaughtered.

Slaughtermen caught on camera 'hacking and sawing' at animals' throats, Sheep filmed being kicked, with one worker standing on an animal's neck, Staff laughed as a sheep bled to death with spectacles painted on its face, Another sheep seems to be punched in the face while others are taunted with knives and shouted at.

Coming from a farming background, and knowing how hard British farmers work to raise their animals to the highest of standards of welfare and to give them the best life possible, I am unable to imagine many Sheep producers who would not be horrified at the content of this video.

It tarnishes not only the Slaughter Industry but by association the UK Sheep Farmers at a time when the British Public are very sensitive to the subject of Halal Slaughter and rightly so.

As an organisation that represents the interests and views of the UK's Sheep Producers, I would like to ask for your opinion and comment on the video and to ask if you would go as far as condemning it?


Yours sincerely


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The NFU's reply - received 04/02/2015

Thank you for your query.

Firstly, I would entirely echo your sentiments about the footage released recently, and so would the entirety of our membership. Farmers do not spend months and even years raising and caring for animals only for them to be treated in the way shown in this footage, which was abhorrent and is illegal regardless of the nuances around stun/non stun slaughter.

I would also like to comment at this point that, even if all welfare aspects were ignored, treating animals as shown will cause stress and bruising, which will cause significant loss of eating quality and meat damage-from no perspective does such behaviour make sense.  As someone who is not only from a sheep farming background but also has worked in the slaughtering industry, I also share your concerns about the image of the industry-however with Red Tractor we do have an excellent assurance scheme in place that mandates pre stunning.

It is important to separate the issue of religious slaughter from non-stun slaughter. The Muslim Council of Britain estimated  last year that over 90% of Halal meat is stunned before slaughter, however some Muslims do insist on non-stun. All Kosher meat has to be slaughtered non-stun. The exact numbers aren’t collected, but the FSA estimate the number of animals not stunned prior to slaughter accounts for 2% of cattle, 10% of sheep and goats, and 4% of poultry.

Our position is that it is up to the Government to determine what they view is appropriate for legally compliant religious slaughter- as an entity we lack the mandate and the expertise from a religious and animal welfare perspective to get involved in this discussion. For farmers, it is an issue of personal moral belief and what is the most suitable market for the animals they are producing, but all farmers wish to see their animals slaughtered in a respectful and humane manner. We would therefore expect that whatever slaughter method is used, it should place animal welfare as a priority and employ sound scientific principles to its method.

Abattoirs in the UK must comply with strict national and European rules for the slaughter of animals to ensure food safety and animal welfare at all times and as such abattoirs are strictly controlled by Government Food Standards Agency inspectors and trading standards. All abattoirs must have an Official Veterinarian (OV) on site whilst slaughter and dressing is taking place.

The NFU recognise that good labelling is important to consumers and would urge shoppers that the Red Tractor farm assurance standard requires that all animals are stunned before slaughter, a fact we are proud of.

Finally, given calls for mandatory CCTV in abattoirs I would like to set out the NFU’s position: CCTV will only ever be a monitoring tool, it does not prevent welfare abuses. Proper prevention is brought about by training and management creating a work environment which promotes professionalism and high animal welfare awareness. For smaller businesses where the cost of CCTV would be an issue, money would perhaps be far better spent on training or handling facilities, rather than CCTV which could be viewed as simply a “feel good” factor for animal welfare activists. This is before concerns are raised over access to footage, and how it is used. That said, as the cost of CCTV decreases, we would encourage its use (most larger abattoirs already have it installed as a customer requirement).

I hope this  answers your query

Best regards

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NFU Livestock Adviser