Animal Equality has released a video filmed inside a slaughterhouse where slaughter without stunning was permitted, and is calling on parliament to abolish any form of exemption from stunning.
How much suffering are we able to accept in order to satisfy an ephemeral sense such as taste? How much violence are we able to sanction others to carry out on our behalf? They're only animals, one might object, and yet investigations inside Italian slaughterhouses have revealed numerous procedures that, besides violating the law, offend any sense of morality. In 2015, the Italcarni slaughterhouse in Ghedi, in the province of Brescia, was shut down after law enforcement officers filmed atrocious abuse of animals and the processing of infected meat; in early 2017, an investigation by Essere Animali showed the suffering of pigs in a facility in the province of Forlì-Cesena that produces the well-known Parma ham; and last October an investigation by Animal Equality revealed the true, chilling face of made-in-Italy chicken. The latest case was documented by Animal Equality, an organisation dedicated to the protection of animals raised for food, which released a series of images filmed in 2015 inside a sheep and goat slaughterhouse where slaughter without stunning was permitted.
The footage — however trite the analogy may seem — looks as though it has come straight out of a horror film. Workers can be seen violating the majority of health and hygiene requirements and mistreating lambs, sheep and goats in every conceivable way: the animals are slaughtered while still fully conscious, are inflated with a compressor while still alive, are left to die in agony for entire minutes, are kicked without reason; animals can also be seen being yanked by a single leg or by the tail, and workers hurling lambs and young goats into the air and piling them on top of one another. The video, obtained by installing hidden cameras, is truly horrifying, and we have chosen not to include it here (the author found it very difficult to watch to the end), but it is nonetheless available on the Animal Equality website.
The slaughterhouse in question, in the Monterosi area, was closed in recent months following the bankruptcy of the company that operated it. Animal Equality nonetheless proceeded to file a complaint against those responsible for the mistreatment shown in the video. The slaughterhouse was one of two hundred facilities in Italy where animals are permitted to be slaughtered without prior stunning. European regulations make prior stunning of animals compulsory, but a legislative exemption allows slaughter without stunning in order to accommodate ritual slaughter — such as halal and kosher — required by certain religions. "It is evident that slaughterhouses granted such an exemption tend to abuse it in a reckless manner, causing animals unnecessary and prolonged suffering," reads the statement issued by Animal Equality.
The law does not provide a sufficient deterrent against violence committed against animals raised for food. Currently only administrative sanctions exist for those who violate regulations on slaughter procedures, and, in the most serious cases, a derisory fine of six thousand euros. Animal Equality Italia is therefore calling, through a petition addressed to the Italian parliament — and in particular to ministers Maurizio Martina and Beatrice Lorenzin — for the introduction of criminal penalties for the mistreatment of animals during the stunning and killing phases. To ensure that the entire process is effectively carried out in accordance with the rules, the organisation is also calling for the mandatory installation of closed-circuit cameras in all slaughter facilities (a demand made last year by a parliamentary inquiry commission established in France to investigate conditions for animals).
Finally, the petition calls for any form of exemption from stunning to be abolished — something already banned in other European Union countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Poland and Belgium. Respect for religions and cultures is fundamental, but it cannot come at the expense of other living beings. "Even in slaughterhouses that operate within the law, the fear and suffering experienced by an animal are beyond all imagination," said Matteo Cupi, executive director of Animal Equality Italia.
Despite the valuable investigative work carried out, Animal Equality was accused by Coldiretti of spreading outright false news "that is causing dismay among the public." Rather than firmly condemning the companies that break the law and demanding transparency, Coldiretti chose to throw dust in consumers' eyes by attacking the animal rights organisation, as though the footage released were not real. The local health authority (Asl) of Viterbo, by contrast, came out in support of Animal Equality. "The Asl, while reiterating that the slaughterhouse was closed by its veterinary officers in April 2015, wishes to thank the association Animal Equality for the campaign it is waging. A campaign that the Viterbo health authority fully endorses, because among our activities is also the protection and monitoring of animal welfare."