The reality of slaughterhouses is horrifying and UK slaughterhouses are no exception
Monthly Slaughter Numbers (April 2024)
Cattle: 52,000 steers, 45,000 heifers, 12,000 young bulls, and 25,000 cows/adult bulls.
Sheep: 973,000 clean sheep and 73,000 ewes/rams.
Pigs: 961,000 clean pigs and 5,000 sows/boars.
Average Dressed Carcase Weights (April 2024)
Cattle: Steers (355.4 kg), Heifers (321.1 kg), Young Bulls (346.1 kg), Cows and Adult Bulls (310.8 kg).
Sheep: Clean Sheep (18.8 kg), Ewes and Rams (54.5 kg).
Pigs: Clean Pigs (90.2 kg), Sows and Boars (152.9 kg).
Meat Production Volumes (April 2024)
Beef: 76,000 tonnes.
Mutton and Lamb: 21,000 tonnes.
Pigmeat: 77,000 tonnes.
For poultry, the statistics indicate:
Broilers: 108.4 million broilers slaughtered in January 2024, producing 179.4 thousand tonnes of meat.
Other Poultry: Significant decreases in the slaughter of boiling fowl and turkeys compared to previous months.*
In April 2024, a total of 2,146,000 animals were slaughtered in the UK. This includes cattle, sheep, and pigs. This is higher than the population of Northern Ireland.
These statistics are compiled from surveys conducted by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), the Food Standards Agency (FSA), and regional bodies in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
More People Are Buying British Meat
The general public has made a shift in their buying habits when it comes to meat. In the past there have been global scares surrounding the safety of meat, with disease outbreaks, food poisoning, mass culling of animals. Then there is the supply chain, the USA wanting to export meat washed in bleach to the UK, Brazil and Argentina not enforcing their own animal welfare laws consistently, India having no regulations at all for slaughterhouses. This is leading people to purposefully buy British meat to 'stay safe' and, since home grown outbreaks of mad cow disease and bird flu, the UK government has ensured that production standards are the strictest that they have ever been. But, this also means that people buying greater amounts of meat that has been sourced in the United Kingdom has lead to increased business for abattoirs in the United Kingdom.
"Abattoirs in the United Kingdom now have to follow the strictest of regulations to ensure there is not an outbreak of any more problems. This means that British sourced meat is ranked among the finest in the world, which has led to more people buying the meat."
abbatior.org.uk
A Brief History of UK Slaughterhouses
In medieval times, slaughtering animals was a localised business, with animals often killed and butchered near where they were sold. There was no regulation of the practice, which meant that hygiene standards were poor, contributing to many public health problems. Slaughterhouses as specific facilities began to appear in the 19th century, driven by urbanisation, the ability to travel greater distances with produce and the need for more organised meat processing.
The Industrial Revolution brought significant changes to the meat processing industry. Dedicated slaughterhouses opened, often located near railways and ports, to allow for more efficient meat distribution. However, these facilities were still largely unregulated, and conditions were often unhygienic and inhumane by modern standards.
Power of justice to order destruction of unsound meat, &c.
If it appears to the justice that any animal carcase meat poultry game flesh fish fruit vegetables corn bread flour or milk so seized is diseased or unsound or unwholesome or unfit for the food of man, he shall condemn the same, and order it to be destroyed or so disposed of as to prevent it from being exposed for sale or used for the food of man ; and the person to whom the same belongs or did belong at the time of exposure for sale, or in whose possession or on whose premises the same was found, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds for every animal carcase or fish or piece of meat flesh or fish, or any poultry or game, or for the parcel of fruit vegetables corn bread or flour or for the milk so condemned, or, at the discretion of the justice, without the infliction of a fine, to imprisonment for a term of not more than three
The Public Health Act of 1875
In the late 19th century, public concern over food safety and animal welfare led to the first significant regulations. The Public Health Act of 1875 gave local authorities the power to regulate slaughterhouses, focusing on hygiene and sanitation to reduce the amount of illness caused by meat processing and consumption.
"No animal to which this Act applies shall, in a slaughterhouse or knacker’s yard, be slaughtered. otherwise than instantaneously by means of a mechanically-operated instrument in proper repair"
The Slaughterhouses Act 1958
In the 20th century improvements to the processes of animal agriculture and slaughter continued, with the establishment of more centralised and regulated slaughterhouses. The Slaughterhouses Act 1958 introduced licensing of slaughterhouses and marked a significant step in ensuring meat safety. This period also saw the beginning of a focus on humane slaughter practices, with the Humane Slaughter Association (HSA) being consulted in the writing, although these practices were not fully realised until later.
"Does the Minister agree that if the regulations laid down in both Acts were observed, such an occurrence as the recent escape of a bullock in Newcastle-upon-Tyne could not occur? Will he take into due account the danger to the public that is involved in such an occurrence and the fearful terror experienced by the animal? Will he seek to persuade local authorities to maintain regular supervision of slaughterhouses?"
Sir W. Elliott
Since the Slaughterhouses Act of 1958 various amendments have been made with a new Slaughterhouses Act being made law in 1974. However, one of the biggest changes to how slaughterhouses operate came in England in 2018, when CCTV was made mandatory in slaughterhouses. This law came into affect after activists captured footage of slaughterhouse workers stubbing cigarettes out on animal's bodies, kicking and punching them and using them for entertainment in England.
The details of what needed to captured by cameras, how long it had to be kept for and what power the government had to seize any footage was made clear. It was believed at the time that this would lead to an improvement in conditions for both the animals and the workers, a forgotten group in previous legislation. However, what the cameras showed was the reality of how bad conditions were inside these windowless slaughterhouses. Animals were kicked, beaten, starved and killed in slow and inhumane ways. Animals that weren't successfully stunned had their throats cut while fully conscious, pregnant cows bled to death while their baby thrashed inside of them, also slowly dying. Human workers were driven to a mental state that allowed them to cause incredible pain, prolonged death and suffering and then go home and eat the meat that came from it. The mental suffering that the humans suffer also spills out into their personal lives. Depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common, as are incidents of workers committing violent and sexual crimes. Relationships often fail and divorce rate are high. Then there are the physical injuries, the cuts, bruises, amputations, the work requires using sharp and dangerous equipment while being surrounded by large, scared animals, accidents will, and do, happen.
Idea that UK slaughterhouses are "better" than those in other countries can be argued, but this in no way means that UK slaughterhouses are good places to be. They are a place of pain and suffering and, obviously, death. Blood pools on the floor. The animals taken to these places can smell and hear what is going on, they know what is coming their way, and this comes after a miserable life and then a cramped, awful journey in the back of a truck. They see terror all around them, there is nothing comforting, nothing to ease them into the process of having their life taken. The humans taking their lives go to work to be surrounded by this, to soak it up and then go home and have a "normal" happy life.
The best solution for everyone is obvious, go vegan, but we know that this isn't going to happen any time soon. Before then, changes must be made, animals need to be treated better, if they are going to be commodified they don't have to be abused in every step of the process. For humans, reform of processes need to be made, more oversight to ensure staff are following processes so that they are not damaged by the killing that they have to do. Support, counselling, better working conditions, more caring. This would help staff and also lead to better treatment of the animals. But, better yet, go vegan.
*The number of poultry slaughtered is reduced after Christmas
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