An Australian animal rights organization is attempting to push the government to follow the United Kingdom's lead and install all the country's slaughterhouses with closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) in an effort to end animal abuse. The call comes after Animals Australia uncovered widespread abuses in Gippsland earlier this week. Executive Director Glenys Oogjes said the evidence captured of cruelty against pigs at the Trafalgar abattoir exposed a severe flaw in the system that only proper scrutiny and oversight can redress. “Most concerning is that much of the cruelty documented looked like the routine method of handling and slaughtering pigs at this abattoir,” Oogjes said in a press statement. “Pigs were being stabbed in the eyes and ears with stunning equipment in what seemed to be the regular method of stunning animals. One escaped pig was beaten to death with a sledgehammer despite a stunning device being nearby. Another was left unaided to bleed out after the throat cut for more than 5 minutes. “These are incredibly cruel and totally unacceptable practices that the current audit system of domestic abattoirs has failed to identify and prevent,” she added. Animals Australia said it was pleased that the abattoir had forfeited its licence but reiterated that there are no guarantees that similar breaches weren't occurring in other Australian facilities. “One of the problems is that unlike export abattoirs, domestic abattoirs don't have an inspector or government officer on site most of the time. This lack of oversight leaves farm production animals incredibly vulnerable. “Where ever eyes aren't watching animals are at risk of cruelty. Reassurance will only come through a totally transparent system such as that being rolled out in the UK where one in five abattoirs have already been fitted with CCTV cameras. “We would like to see a similar approach adopted in Australia for both domestic and export abattoirs. Only then could we be somewhat reassured that animals are protected from such gross acts of cruelty,” concluded Oogjes. BM
