The Government is committed to maintaining high standards of animal welfare at slaughter, and there are strict legal requirements in place. In slaughterhouses, these requirements are monitored and enforced by Official Veterinarians of the Food Standards Agency to ensure that animals are spared unnecessary suffering, distress or pain during the slaughter process.
CCTV, as with other monitoring methods, does have limitations and relies on businesses to monitor their operations appropriately. The Government is unconvinced of the need for further legislation at this time, but is keeping the need for CCTV under review.
As part of this ongoing consideration the committee that advises the Government on farm animal welfare has reviewed the effectiveness of CCTV in verifying the welfare of animals in slaughterhouses.
The committee reported earlier this year and while it did not recommend legislation to make CCTV mandatory, it did express the view that CCTV can be beneficial to animal welfare at slaughter. The Government will give this report its full consideration.
By Patrick McLoughlin on October 27, 2015