Two years ago, an EU report revealed the extent of the cruelty and dismal levels of hygiene inside the Marsa abattoir. Since then, a €1 million investment has sought to revert this abysmal state of affairs.
A report drawn up by foreign veterinary health experts, on an EU inspection in Malta in September 2007, had painted a hellish picture of what the cattle had to go through before they are slaughtered.
In many cases, the killing ended up being painful because of unsuccessful and repeated attempts, as other animals look on in shock.
But while the abattoir will always remain a grim and disturbing place to all but those inured to its horrors through constant exposure, many of the practices decried in the 2007 report appear to have since been addressed.
Among the more significant changes concern the actual slaughtering methods.
Pigs are no longer killed on the same day as they are transferred to the abattoir,” Malta’s animal welfare director Mario Spiteri explained.
“Furthermore, pigs are gassed using CO2, which knocks them out painlessly before the process referred to as ‘sticking’ (slaughtering with a knife) is actually carried out.”
As for cows, the “electric shock” method favoured in the past has been phased out, and even the stun gun used has since been replaced since with more modern instruments.
However, killing will always remain killing, and Dr Spiteri admits that the slaughterhouse will remain a forbidding place, no matter how much the systems are refined and improved.
The question of abattoir safety was raised when it was revealed that cattle transferred to the government-run abattoir in Marsa on their final voyage were facing a disturbingly cruel, filthy and unsafe environment, raising the risk of contamination of meat sold for human consumption.
The notoriety of the abattoir had raised concern at the world’s largest animal rights group, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), which called for the immediate closing of the national abattoir in Marsa in a letter sent to rural affairs minister George Pullicino.
“Cows and pigs feel pain and fear just as dogs, cats and other animals do, and certainly do not deserve to be abused as they are at the government’s abattoir,” said Matt Prescott, manager at PETA, who denounced the government for hiding documentation about the abusive treatment of animals at the national abattoir.
But what had led PETA to demand that the abattoir be opened to inspections by independent animal welfare organisations and that the results of such audits be made public?
The Abattoir Welfare Assessment report had revealed how cattle awaited slaughter in abysmal health conditions, cows pulled with extreme force towards restraining pens, inadequate stunning guns that required repeated killing attempts and cattle restrained to wall-mounted rings for long periods left unable to drink and lie down.
The report found that the risk of contamination of meat by dirty hides, skin and dirty hair was significant, with even the protective boots worn by the workers “very dirty and contaminated with faeces” raising even further the risk of meat contamination.
Even the splitting saw was inadequately cleaned as “the water bath provided for its cleaning did not reach an adequately high water temperature”.
Cattle were suffering at the restraining box where they are supposed to be stunned to death. Experts said the overall environment, bad lighting, loud noise, inadequate surfaces and unnecessary personnel, created “significant welfare issues” – with the most significant being “the need to pull, push and force animals to enter the ramp area” leading to the stunning box.
Also in contravention of the law, individual cattle were witnessed being tied to a lorry by the front leg and dragged by extreme force into the restraining pen.
Tail twisting – also an illegal practice – is also used as a method of coercion in an attempt to get the cattle to move forward into the restraining box, while pieces of wood and pipes are believed to be used to provoke the cattle that refuse to move forward.
The animals were also found to be extremely fearful of entering the stunning box because of shadows created by the sunlight and loud noises. The very floor of the restraining pen used for stunning was found to be permanently angled to facilitate the roll-out of the cattle after they are stunned, but this was causing them to slip and fall within the box “following extreme coercion”.
“Where cattle failed to exit automatically from the restraining pen following stunning, a steel pipe was used to initiate movement by levering the animal against the side,” the experts added. “Given that the heart is still beating at this point, it is possible that bruising of the carcass and direct damage to the hide could take place as a result of this.”
The stunning procedure itself lacked a backup in cases when the animals still manage to remain alive, making the whole procedure even more prolonged and painful. The cartridges used to stun the cattle were found to be “completely inappropriate” as their size was not effective for cattle, with the experts maintaining they found evidence that different types of cartridges were being used on heavy cattle “without consideration as to whether they provided the required strength”.
Among the cows transferred to the slaughterhouse, the experts reported that a number of them showed “significant health conditions”, with overgrown feet being the most common condition suffered by the animals, besides hobbles, large abscesses and even a case of a mass growth on a bull’s penis.
The experts also found that cows that were unable to walk were being dragged to the place of slaughter in direct contravention of the law which states that such animals must be killed where they lie or, if possible and it does not entail any unnecessary suffering, they should be transported on a trolley to the place of emergency slaughter.
Evidence that this kind of cruel and restrictive haltering was a long established procedure could be seen from wall damage produced by cattle horns, the experts continued.
While government confirmed the extent of the problems at the abattoirit pledge an investment of over €1 million to upgrade the slaughterhouse and bring it in line with EU regulations.
The investment was part of an action plan aimed at tackling issues concerning hygiene, animal welfare, on both the bovine and swine lines and other initiatives common to both the bovine and swine lines has been prepared.
The following were the main measures that have been taken, or are to be taken, with respect to animal welfare:
The ‘emergency slaughterhouse’ to be upgraded in order to operate as a red meat slaughterhouse. It will only be used for slaughtering of horses and emergency slaughtering.
Cattle of all sizes would be slaughtered on the bovine line, and sows/boars and pigs and sheep/goats on the swine line on separate days. Layouts were prepared for necessary adjustments of the lairages (where animals are kept before slaughtered) and stunning equipment and areas. The lines are also being upgraded in order to allow for the slaughter of such animals.
The lairage will be reconstructed with pens which allow one-way movement to the stunning box/area. Drinking cups with supply of potable water will be installed in the pens. Sick pens with separate drainage and easy access to the stunning area will also be established. Layouts for adjustment to the lairages have been prepared, discussed and agreed with the stakeholders and reconstruction works will be starting shortly.
Hydraulic ramps for the unloading areas would also be installed while the cattle stunning box had to be reconstructed and the runway relocated according to the layout for the lairage and replaced by a new sufficient ramp.
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