Animal welfare: Call for CCTV cameras in all Welsh abattoirs

CCTV has been compulsory in every abattoir in England since spring 2018

All slaughterhouses in Wales should have to install CCTV cameras in line with moves in England and Scotland, a group of assembly members has said.

It follows a petition to the Senedd from an animal welfare charity.

Animal Aid said mandatory CCTV would deter abuses and help vets with regulation and monitoring.

The Welsh Government said 14 of Wales' 24 slaughterhouses do not have cameras, although ministers have made money available for their installation.

CCTV has been compulsory in every abattoir in England in all areas where live animals are present since May 2018.

Plans for similar new laws in Scotland were announced last year.

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Animal Aid's petition, submitted in 2012, called on the assembly to "urge the Welsh Government to introduce mandatory CCTV in slaughterhouses to help vets with better regulation and monitoring, to provide footage for training and retraining, to deter some of the animal welfare abuses filmed by Animal Aid, and to provide evidence for prosecutions should they be necessary".

Conservative AM Janet Finch-Saunders, who chairs the committee, said it was "of utmost importance that animals are treated with respect and dignity at all times, including at the end of their lives".

"The committee does not believe that the purely voluntary approach currently being taken forward by the Welsh Government is sufficient to ensure that correct welfare standards will be upheld in all cases," she said.

"One way we can ensure standards are not left to chance is by making CCTV compulsory in critical areas of slaughterhouses, including where animals are kept and where they are killed.

"We consider that it is time that the Welsh Government acted to help reassure everybody in Wales that the suffering of animals is minimised at these extremely sensitive moments."

Funding

Ms Finch-Saunders, assembly member for Aberconwy, also called for ministers to provide "adequate funding" to reinforce the standards and take appropriate action when needed.

The Petitions Committee was told the Welsh Government allocated £32,000 to the Food Standards Agency to fund animal welfare inspections and enforcement in 2019-20 and only £7,400 in one financial year, 2016-17.

A Welsh Government spokesman said: "Our larger slaughterhouses, which process the majority of animals, already have CCTV.

"We have committed to working with slaughterhouse operators in a supportive relationship and our bespoke grant scheme includes funding for investments to safeguard animal welfare.

"This includes the installation, upgrade or improvement of CCTV."