According to an undercover inquiry, cows were hit with electric prods, and lambs and piglets were not stunned long enough before having their throats cut at a government-approved small slaughterhouse.

In a searing hot water tank, one piglet looked to be alive, and others were tossed in without being checked for signs of life.

Covert Investigation

The Animal Justice Project (AJP), which conducted the two-month investigation, urges the government to stop plans to utilize public funds to subsidize slaughterhouses under the new Agriculture Act and conduct an independent assessment of abattoirs.

Following the closure of several local abattoirs in recent years, ministers seek to help them.

The concealed cameras at G & GB Hewitt, a family-owned business in Cheshire, caught 200 hours of film, according to AJP, which shows terrible animal abuse and suffering, several violations of the law, and a failure of a government veterinarian to prevent cruelty.

However, a meat industry representative disputed the findings, claiming that animals may move and look alive after they have died.

In examinations over the last six years, the government's food watchdog, the Food Standards Agency (FSA), has judged the slaughterhouse "usually satisfactory."

Related Article: UK to Ban Boiling Lobsters Alive, Acknowledging Crustaceans Are Sentient Beings

Incident Report


According to reports, the covert filming captured the following: When cows and bulls had nowhere to go, employees hit them with electric prods, which is prohibited.

For more than 40 minutes, bulls were forcefully jabbed on the skulls, totaling 200 punches. They were stabbed 18 times in 15 seconds on another occasion.

At least 80% of the animals filmed were stunned for an inadequate time, rendering them pain and discomfort insensitive. Some of the stuns lasted only a second.

Because of the delays following stunning, most of the animals murdered had time to restore consciousness before their throats were slashed. No personnel was observed looking for evidence of consciousness in the animals.

After insufficient stunning, sheep and pigs were videotaped hanging while aware, kicking out, and gasping.

Animal Abuse

Cows were shouted at, beaten, and shoved, some of which were inhumane.

Pigs had their legs chopped off while they struggled around in chains, displaying signs of life.

The stunning apparatus failed on four of the eight days that were videotaped, creating confusion and suffering among the pigs and sheep.

According to investigators, the FSA official vet was not videotaped entering the stun or kill rooms, and he ignored workers who broke the guidelines.

Ineffective Safeguard

They said that the film showed that CCTV, which has been obligatory in all abattoirs in England since 2018, was not safeguarding animals as effectively as it should be.

"For the period of our recording, the vet will have missed pre-stun shocks on animals, bad handling, malfunctioning stun devices, insufficient stun times, and indicators of awareness. Corrective action should have been done if the vet had been watching CCTV at the time of the incidents, according to an AJP spokeswoman.

Former UK government deputy chief vet and former veterinary director at the FSA, Alick Simmons, claimed other occasions when apparent violations of the law were demonstrated, including a sheep pulled by its horns and severely lame animals.

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