![]() Dr Alice Brough said: “Non-aversive gases like argon or helium do offer potential alternatives, but they’re more expensive, and there’s no financial incentive for the meat industry to change their systems.” The NPA said it organised a summit last year along with the National Farmers’ Union and British Meat Processors Association to discuss alternative gas mixtures, but concluded that there was no other viable system available. “In addition, CO 2 gas stunning of pigs does provide some welfare benefits there is reduced risk of potential human error, animals remain in groups, and modern gas systems enable improved handling of pigs through use of automatic gates, which reduces the need for staff intervention and stress.” We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. For more information see our Privacy Policy. Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. Lizzie Wilson, CEO of the National Pig Association (NPA), said: “While we acknowledge gas stunning isn’t perfect, it is the best, most humane and efficacious commercially available option, and often the most reliable slaughter method for ensuring consistency. The results showed it does not offer a humane alternative, and a 2021 Defra report into the welfare of animals at slaughter stated: “There has been no willingness on the part of abattoirs to explore inert gas mixture stunning commercially because of extended dwell time and therefore reduced throughput.” However, its use has instead increased to 88% of all pigs in 2022.Ī new scientific opinion by the European Food Safety Authority published in June 2020 stated: “Exposure to CO 2 at high concentrations is considered a serious welfare concern by the panel because it is highly aversive and causes pain, fear and respiratory distress.”ĭefra recently funded research into low atmospheric pressure stunning (Laps) as a potential alternative. In 2003, a government advisory body, the Farm Animal Welfare Council, said that CO 2 stunning/killing “is not acceptable and we wish to see it phased out in five years”. Furthermore, the Food Standards Agency is legally required to be present at all sites and would routinely review any footage taken from an abattoir to ensure animals are treated humanely, and we have had no issues raised in the timeframe you have provided.” Its animal welfare policy states: “At Pilgrim’s UK it is essential that all pigs are treated humanely throughout their lives and that the pig’s welfare is always at the forefront of everything we do.” It confirms that all Pilgrim’s pigs are stunned using CO 2.Ī Pilgrim’s Pride spokesperson said: “There is nothing to identify that this is our site, and it would be inappropriate for us to comment on that basis. Pilgrim’s UK, formerly known as Tulip, is a division of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, which is owned by JBS, the Brazilian-owned meat producer. “We urgently need to stop using animals as resources because this kind of horror show is the result.” ![]() It’s an unacceptable way to treat any animal, and that really concerns me.”Īnimal activist Joey Carbstrong, who captured the footage for the film Pignorant, said that the continued use of CO 2 arises from the favouring of corporate profit over the interests of the animals. “If this is the way animals are treated in this plant, they’re not being handled humanely. Paul Roger, a vet and founder member of the Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law Veterinary Association, said some pigs appeared to start waking from the gas prior to slaughter. ![]() The period of poor welfare continues until the pig loses consciousness.” The gasping can be seen in all pigs where the mouth is visible. “The pigs in the video react to the first inhalation of carbon dioxide with fear and obvious discomfort,” said Donald Broom, an animal welfare professor at the University of Cambridge. The pigs appear to be in distress as the gas concentration increases, with one still kicking after more than three minutes. They show pigs in groups of five or six being mechanically herded into a cage and then lowered into a Butina gas chamber in a ferris wheel-like system. The images published today were obtained, say campaigners, using hidden cameras at Pilgrim’s Pride abattoir in Ashton-under-Lyne in north-west England in February 2021.
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