Jiglu: Farmtalking: Discussion: Government response to the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) report on the Welf

Originally from: mona parr

As a horse owner there are a couple of points in the draft consultation that I am not comfortable with.
Page 20
'Gov will be commissioning research into the slaughtering of horses within sight of others. If this does not cause the animal unnecessary stress WASK will be amended to allow the slaughter of horses within sight of others as is currently allowed for other species.
Should slaughterhouses currently dealing with horses choose to use the captive bolt stunning rather than killing with the use of a free bullet the Gov would investigate appropriate stun to stick times and provide guidance'

Excuse me-----and whose horses/ponies will these experiments be carried out on!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/latest/2004/animalwelfare-010404.htm

The Government today announced that it would be consulting interested parties on its draft response to the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) report on the Welfare of Farmed Animals at Slaughter or Killing – Part 1: Red meat animals. The consultation period will last for 12 weeks.

In its draft response, the Government outlines its current thinking and supports most of the 94 recommendations relating to the welfare of animals at the time of slaughter or killing as set out in the FAWC report, and believes they will lead to significant improvements in animal welfare. Before reaching a final view however, the Government wishes to consider carefully all responses to the consultation document and welcomes further dialogue with all parties concerned.

Animal Welfare Minister Ben Bradshaw said that the FAWC recommendation that the Government should ban religious slaughter without stunning on welfare grounds had understandably been deeply contentious for the Jewish and Muslim communities across the UK, to whom this is a matter of fundamental concern.

Mr Bradshaw said:

'We are grateful to FAWC for their work, seeking to improve the welfare of farm animals – a goal we share. We also accept that there are deeply held beliefs on both sides of aspects of this argument. We will not ban the production of halal or kosher meat.

'A ban could in any case simply result in kosher and halal meat being imported. We would, therefore, be exporting the problem, resulting in no overall improvement in animal welfare.'

While the Government is proposing to reject the FAWC recommendation to ban slaughter without prior stunning, Mr Bradshaw said proposals for a post-cut stun for cattle should receive further consideration while accepting at the same time the depth of feeling and deeply held beliefs of some religious groups.

'The Government sees some merit in the FAWC recommendation that cattle slaughtered by having their throats cut should receive an immediate post-cut stun because of the time it takes cattle to lose consciousness, but we do not intend to pursue a mandatory system for this and intend to explore whether progress can be made on a voluntary basis. We would welcome the views of the communities concerned.'

Mr Bradshaw also suggested that the consultation provides an opportunity to start a debate on whether meat from animals slaughtered without prior stunning for the kosher and halal markets should be labelled voluntarily. This however is a matter for the Food Standards Agency.

The issues associated with labelling centre around the fact that some of the meat from animals slaughtered by the religious slaughter method, where the animal has not been stunned, finds it way on to the ordinary meat market. At present, it is not required to be labelled as having come from an animal that was slaughtered without prior stunning.

Further information

The Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) report on the Welfare of Farmed Animals at Slaughter or Killing, Part 1: Red meat animals was published on 10 June 2003. The Government's draft response to the 94 recommendations contained in the Report, which provides the basis for the consultation paper, can be found on the Defra website:

Government draft response Responses to the Government's consultation paper should be sent to Mark Benneworth, Area 605, 1A Page Street, London, SW1P 4PQ by the deadline of 24 June 2004.

The Government welcomes comments on its draft response to the FAWC report from all interested parties. All responses to the consultation will be made available at the end of the consultation period unless the respondent states specifically that they wish part or all of their response to be kept confidential.

The Scottish Executive and Welsh Assembly are to issue their own separate consultations.