The conclusions of the parliamentary inquiry commission on French slaughterhouses have been made public — just as a new scandal video comes to light.
Warning: the images in the video may be disturbing
It is time to "put an end to the omertà" surrounding French slaughterhouses. So says the parliamentary inquiry commission established in France to investigate conditions for animals, which on 20 September published a 255-page report. The document puts forward 65 proposals to improve a situation that, following the repeated scandals exposed in recent years, has provoked a powerful wave of protests across the country.
Among the measures proposed by the commission is a call to make the installation of cameras inside all slaughterhouses on French territory mandatory. The idea received partial approval from Agriculture Minister Stéphane Le Foll, who immediately said he was in favour of a trial period, on condition, however, of "also respecting the workers" — and therefore ensuring that surveillance does not become a form of monitoring directed at them.
This represents a victory for animal rights activists in any case, achieved above all thanks to the efforts of the association L214, which has published a series of horrifying videos of animals being mistreated at a number of facilities. Yesterday the same organisation revealed a new investigation into a slaughterhouse in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, in south-west France. In this case, the footage released shows sheep that are still alive and conscious, writhing as they hang upside down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70wwjEZ0VX8
The 30 members of parliament who make up the inquiry commission have, for their part, acknowledged "an insufficiency of inspections and transparency", as well as "numerous dysfunctions that it is essential to remedy". The parliamentarians believe in particular that all 941 French slaughterhouses must be investigated "with the utmost rigour and objectivity possible". Work that was already launched last April by the government through an inspection campaign covering 263 sites.
The report also recommends that a veterinarian be mandatorily present in all facilities with more than 50 employees. It is necessary, the members of parliament explained, "to put an end to the impression of near-impunity that certain operators inspire". The commission further calls for investment in the modernisation of facilities and in the training of workers, and proposes "creating a national ethical council for slaughterhouses".
"The existence of this inquiry commission," commented Brigitte Gothière, spokesperson for L214, "is a positive thing, because it has meant that politicians have taken an interest in the question of animals. However, we would have liked the reflection to extend to why these living beings are killed in the first place. On this point, parliament censored itself from the outset. Three million animals are slaughtered every day in France. We need to talk about these enormous figures."