- 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
- 'Horrifying abuse' captured by animal rights campaigners at halal abattoir
- One worker has been sacked and another three have been suspended
- The Food Standards Agency has launched an urgent investigation
- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
A worker at a halal abattoir has been sacked and three others suspended after being filmed breaking strict rules on slaughtering sheep.
The men could face prosecution for the ‘horrifying yet routine abuse’ captured by animal rights campaigners using hidden cameras.
Slaughtermen at the Bowood Lamb abattoir in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, are seen ‘hacking and sawing’ at animals’ throats in apparent contravention of Islamic practice.
Sickening: A worker at a halal abattoir has been sacked and three others suspended after being filmed breaking strict rules on slaughtering sheep
Horrifying: The men could face prosecution for the 'routine abuse' captured by animal rights campaigners using secret cameras
Slaughtermen at the Bowood Lamb abattoir in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, are allegedly seen ‘hacking and sawing’ at animals’ throats in apparent contravention of Islamic practice
Sheep were filmed being kicked, lifted and hurled, with one worker recorded standing on a conscious sheep’s neck.
Staff are also alleged to have erupted in laughter over a sheep bleeding to death with spectacles drawn around her eyes in green paint.
Slaughtermen were allegedly filmed ‘taunting and frightening’ animals by waving knives, smacking them on the head and shouting at them.
And instead of praying as the sheep were killed, the Muslim workers chatted as a radio ‘blared out Christmas songs’ and colleagues sang along.
The footage has been released by Animal Aid campaigners and handed to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to investigate.
Secretly-placed hidden cameras were used to record practices during slaughter over a period of three days in December.
Kate Fowler, head of campaigns at Animal Aid, said: ‘The vicious attacks on defenceless, frightened animals at Bowood are inexcusable.
‘All four conveyor operators we filmed over three days abused animals to varying degrees, while the slaughterers looked on unmoved.’
Slaughtermen were filmed ‘taunting and frightening’ animals by waving knives, smacking them on the head and shouting at them.
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Instead of praying as the sheep were killed, the Muslim workers chatted as a radio ‘blared out Christmas songs’
In one horror killing, it appears that the men erupted in laughter as a sheep bled to death with green spectacles painted around its eyes
She added: ‘This is the 10th slaughterhouse in which we have filmed undercover, and it is the ninth to be caught breaking animal welfare laws.
‘None of the abuses we uncovered would have come to light without our cameras being in place, even though there is a Government-appointed vet at each slaughterhouse.’
The law requires abattoirs to stun animals before slaughter to prevent unnecessary suffering, but there are exemptions for Jewish and Muslim producers.
Under the halal code, animals are supposed to be killed quickly, with a single sweep of a surgically-sharp knife.
They should not see the knife before they are slaughtered, or witness the death of other animals.
The video footage appears to show that these rules were routinely flouted at Bowood, where more than 4,000 sheep were filmed being killed.
Under UK law, slaughtered animals that have not been stunned must remain in position for at least 20 seconds after their throats are cut, to ensure loss of consciousness.
But 86 per cent of the sheep at Bowood were moved before that amount of time had elapsed, some in as little as one second, claimed Animal Aid.
It said many of the practices ‘defied expectations of what Muslims believe halal slaughter should be.’
The law requires abattoirs to stun animals before slaughter to prevent unnecessary suffering, but there are exemptions for Jewish and Muslim producers
Campaigners did not want to stir-up anti-Muslim feeling but felt withholding the awful footage would be a 'betrayal'
Slaughtermen wearing the traditional Muslim kufi skullcap and muttering the words 'Allahu Akbar' (God is great) were allegedly seen breaking rules in the way sheep were put down.
Campaigners said they recognised the risks of stirring up anti-Muslim feeling but ‘witholding release of the footage would be a betrayal of our key mission to expose and combat animal cruelty'.
The FSA, which regulates abattoirs, confirmed four slaughtermen have had their licences suspended and an investigation launched.
A spokesman said: ‘The Food Standards Agency takes animal welfare at abattoirs very seriously which is why we immediately suspended the licences of the slaughtermen involved.
‘There is no excuse for treating animals in the way shown on the video and we are therefore investigating the footage with a view to prosecution.
We are also continuing to investigate all the circumstances around the incident to ensure proper safeguards are introduced to stop this happening in the future.’
The halal market could be worth as much as £2billion a year, with more than 100 million animals killed using the method annually.
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