Viva! 8 York Court Wilder Street Bristol BS2 8QH Tel: 0117 944 1000 Fax: 0117 924 4646 email: media@viva.org.uk	12 December 2000 MHS Accused of Ignoring Animal Cruelty in Welsh Abbattoir Viva! today describes the Welsh Meat Hygiene Service’s (MHS) response to its video evidence of cruelty at a Welsh abattoir as “a whitewash”. MHS vets and inspectors are accused of denying allegations of animal suffering even though they were not present when the incidents occurred. The accusations follow a letter from Ivor Pumfrey, the Regional MHS Director for Wales, received by Viva! this morning. In his letter, Mr Pumfrey flatly denies Viva!’s claims that animals at Mr DT Havard’s abattoir in Caerphilly were inadequately stunned and regained consciousness during an undercover visit made by Viva! in June. Viva!’s video footage shows pigs slipping out of the electric stunning tongs and squealing. The tongs are shown to be applied to the animals for as little as two seconds. One pig is shown writhing and kicking on the killing line and another struggles so violently that she slips her shackles and falls into the blood pit below. The investigator’s report states, “Each stun only lasted about two seconds and sometimes if a pig was trying to get away the tongs slipped off and he [the stun operator] had to start again. He didn’t always catch them in the right place - one pig was tonged right on her eye. “We went back through into the slaughterhall... some of the pigs were clearly regaining consciousness - they were writhing and struggling on the shackles. I saw 18 pigs in the lairage that day. I watched 5 pigs who appeared to regain consciousness while bleeding to death.” Says Ivor Pumfrey in his letter to Viva!, “I can find no evidence to support the claims made in your reports and to the contrary am assured by the Official Veterinary Surgeon and Meat Hygiene Inspector present on the day that the necessary requirements of the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995 were complied with, in particular that they observed no evidence of any animal regaining consciousness after stunning. This includes the pig shown to fall from the rail in your video footage, which was as a result of reflex kicking after stunning. Such a reaction is entirely normal and does not indicate an ineffective stun or the regaining of consciousness. “The requirements of legislation protecting the Welfare of Animals at Slaughter are applied robustly in Wales as they are elsewhere within GB. I do not accept your claim that animals in slaughterhouses in Wales suffer unacceptably.” In her response to Mr Pumfrey, Viva! Campaigner Rebecca Smith says, “Your dismissal of our evidence appears to be based on enquiries made of the Official Veterinary Surgeon and the Meat Hygiene Service inspector present on 06 June 2000. However, our investigators state that the Official Veterinary Surgeon, who is only required to be present for part of the day, had left the premises before they begun filming pigs being stunned and killed. Additionally, the Meat Hygiene Inspector was not present when they filmed pigs being stunned. “We believe that your response has been made in the interests of safeguarding the reputation of Welsh abattoirs, rather than in the interests of animal welfare.” Ms Smith points out that Mr Pumfrey fails to comment on the filmed evidence of pigs being incorrectly stunned and continues, “I am aware that electrical stunning can cause reflex kicking movements - defined by the Humane Slaughter Association as ‘involuntary kicking or paddling’. However, these movements can clearly be differentiated from an animal who is conscious, struggling and trying to lift herself up on the shackles. When this pig fell to the floor, she tried to stand but four men quickly descended on her and shackled her back up. ” Viva! is issuing an open challenge to vets to view the video footage and give their opinion on whether the pigs filmed at Mr DT Havard’s abattoir regain consciousness. Viva! is also asking local television stations to show the footage, so that the public can decide for themselves whether they believe that the pigs are suffering unacceptably. Ends