Animals bled or cut up while they still appear conscious. This is what a new survey by the animal rights association L214 showspublished this Thursday. She denounces mistreatment of cows and sheep at the Maurienne slaughterhouse, in Sainte-Marie-de-Cuines. According to L214, videos were filmed inside the slaughterhouse between August 29 and October 1 using a hidden camera, then transmitted to the association by a “whistleblower.“
Some extracts from these videos, as always, are difficult to watch. We see sheep and calves being slaughtered on an assembly line, sometimes with mistreatment inflicted on the animals by certain slaughterhouse employees. In the images, we see that the restrainer in which the sheep pass before being stunned and killed does not seem suitable. Employees are forced to push the animals, sometimes turning them over by handwith sheep that end up on their backs.
L214.
The video clips also show failed stuns, despite the use of what appears to be a piercing rod gun, which in theory makes it possible to pierce the animal's skull and prevent it from suffering during the kill. We therefore see sheep hanging by one leg, still struggling as they bleed out, after having been stabbed in the neck by a slaughterhouse employee. In other images, we also see that an employee attacks the cut of the skin of a cow while one of the legs is still moving. Is it a reflex movement, as sometimes happens? Or is the animal still conscious? It's hard to tell based on the videos alone.
The prefect of Savoie suspends the activity of the slaughterhouse
This Wednesday evening, the prefecture of Savoie announced in a press release that it had received the images from the L214 association, and that the prefect François Ravier had decided to suspend the activity of the Saint-Étienne slaughterhouse. de-Cuines, awaiting an in-depth analysis”findings of non-compliance which appear on the video.” This was one of the requests of the association, which called for this closure. “It's revolting to still see these kinds of images.” explains Sébastien Arsac, spokesperson and co-founder of L214. “Following several of our investigations, the former Minister of Agriculture Stéphane Le Foll, in office at the time, requested in 2016 a generalized audit of French slaughterhouses. It's 2024, and we're still seeing the same failings as back then.“
A complaint was also filed for acts of cruelty and mistreatment towards animals. The L214 association hopes for the opening of an investigation by the Albertville public prosecutor's office and is also asking the new Minister of Agriculture, Annie Genevard, for a generalized audit of slaughterhouses in France.
Slaughter rules are strict. They arise from European regulations and also from the Rural Code and maritime fishing. For example, it makes it compulsory to stun animals before slaughter or killing, but also the implementation of emergency killing procedures, to avoid unnecessary suffering. “Bloodletting“, says article R214-71, “must begin as soon as possible after stunning and in any case before the animal regains consciousness.“
“We do our best to be in line with animal welfare”
“We were filmed without our knowledge“, reacts Luc Ettelin, sheep breeder in Aiton and president of the Maurienne slaughterhouse company, from which 400 tonnes of meat come out per year. “We have noted incidents, but they are brief. We work under the supervision of veterinary services, and when we see animals moving after stunning and bleeding on the videos, these are sometimes nervous reflexes. For people who have never seen a slaughter, it's a reflex that can be surprising..”
However, the farmer wishes to take responsibility for certain shortcomings if there have been any. “We do our best to be in line with animal welfare, but we work with living things. Unfortunately, we see lambs arriving upside down in the restrainer, but these are incidents that rarely occur. Of course, when you edit the sequences end to end, you might get the impression that there's a lot of mistreatment, but that's not the case.” According to Luc Ettelin, the Maurienne establishment received a visit from national veterinarians from the national slaughterhouse inspection force in December 2022. No malfunction was noted.
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