Slaughterhouse cruelty exposed in secretly recorded video footage

CCTV cameras have captured extreme animal cruelty at a halal slaughterhouse where sheep were punched, kicked, and thrown.

17:01 03 February 2015

Secretly recorded videos at Bowood Lamb abattoir in Thirsk, North Yorkshire have shown that the sheep are being punched and kicked before being slaughtered.

Animal rights group Animal Aid, smuggled the cameras into the site and secretly filmed over three days in December.

The videos have prompted the Food Standards Agency to suspend the operating licenses of four of the slaughter men and is now conducting an investigation.

In a statement The FSA said: "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."

The MP for Crawley said: "Already many abattoirs, particularly ones that supply the big supermarkets like Tesco and Waitrose, have a system of CCTV to ensure animal welfare standards are maintained.

"So what I'm asking for is that is extended across all slaughterhouses in the UK. It's not something that is very expensive or burdensome but actually could end a lot of unnecessary suffering and abuse of livestock in the food production process."