CIWF Trust s new report reveals that in reality animals are hustled through modern abattoirs at such great speed that many are not being properly stunned and some actually recover consciousness from the stun as they are dying. CIWF calls on the government to introduce urgent reforms in slaughter law and practice to halt this suffering. At these speeds it is impossible for the welfare of the animals to be properly safeguarded.
Slaughter is in general a two-stage process.
First, animals are stunned into unconsciousness, with the intention that they should be insensible to pain. Stunning is followed by throat-cutting, with the animal dying from loss of blood. CIWF Trust s new report reveals that this process often goes wrong. Scientific research shows that both carotids must be cut to ensure a rapid death but the law only requires one carotid to be severed. The pigs can be seen hyperventilating and trying to escape from the gas chamber.