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FSA investigate Thirsk abattoir over mistreatment of animals

The Food Standards Agency has said that they will be investigating after animal rights group Animal Aid uncovered footage of the mistreatment of animals at a Thirsk abattoir.

According to the BBC, one man has been sacked and three others have had their operating licences suspended after the incidents were filmed at the Bowood Lamb slaughterhouse.

The FSA has issued a statement on the Bowood Farms Ltd (T/A Bowood Yorkshire Lamb) abattoir footage released by Animal Aid which 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.”

Jamie Foster, a solicitor speaking on behalf of Bowood Lamb, said that a picture of a slaughterman standing on the neck of a sheep “fell far below the standards that Bowood would find acceptable, and that individual was immediately dismissed for gross negligence”.

“But it isn’t right that this is routine because Bowood is a company that takes animal welfare extremely seriously” he concluded.

More than 4,000 sheep were filmed being killed at Bowood over a three-day period in December.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .