Farmed animal welfare: Slaughter

The law

On 22 June 2009 the Agriculture Council reached political agreement on a Regulation to  replace Directive 93/119/EC on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or killing which was adopted in 1993. The new regulation will apply from 1 January 2013. It is anticipated that the final text of the Regulation will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union towards the end of 2009. Legislative changes will be required to implement this Regulation and we will consult as appropriate before any changes are made.

Directive 93/119/EC has been implemented in Great Britain by the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995, as amended, (WASK) and in Northern Ireland by the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996, as amended.

WASK has been directly amended by several Regulations. These are:

It is an absolute offence to cause or permit an animal avoidable excitement, pain or suffering. There are also specific rules on handling, stunning, slaughter or killing of animals. In particular:

  • anyone carrying out any of these tasks must have the knowledge and skill to do their job humanely and efficiently;
  • slaughtermen must be competent and hold a Registered Licence;
  • in every slaughterhouse a competent person must be given authority to take action to safeguard welfare; and
  • only permitted methods may be used to stun or kill animals.

Publications and guidance

The Guidance aims to supplement the legislation by clarifying some of the requirements.

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Enforcement

All approved premises are supervised by Official Veterinarians (OVs) employed by the Meat Hygiene Service, a Government Agency and now part of the Food Standards Agency. Official Veterinarians (OVs) ensure compliance by Food Business Operators (FBOs) with meat hygiene, animal welfare and other statutory rules. They are guided in these duties by detailed instructions provided by Defra. OVs take action on the spot to correct any problems they may find: this may include verbal or written advice or warnings and, when necessary, a recommendation for prosecution. If OVs see animals arriving at a slaughterhouse which show evidence of welfare problems arising on farm or during transport, they will report the incident to the appropriate enforcement body which will take the necessary follow-up action.

When animals are killed on farms or at knackers' yards, Animal Health monitors welfare. It is not practical nor possible to exercise a supervision regime similar to that in approved premises. Where possible, Veterinary Officers monitor slaughter during visits to farms and, in particular, they make regular visits to knackers' yards and to as many seasonal poultry slaughterers as possible in the period immediately before Christmas. Animal Health also follows up reports and allegations of poor practice and, when necessary, instigates investigation with a view to prosecution.

On farm killing and slaughter

Anyone killing or slaughtering an animal or bird on a farm must hold a slaughter licence unless the animal:

  • is being killed for the purposes of disease control;
  • is being killed by means of free bullet in the field (in such instances, the individual should hold the relevant firearms certificate);
  • is suffering and is being killed for emergency reasons relating to the welfare of the animal and where the animal needs to be killed/slaughtered immediately;
  • is being killed by its owner for his private consumption;
  • is being killed by a qualified veterinary surgeon.

Killing or slaughter should be conducted without causing “any avoidable excitement, pain or suffering to any animal”. Anyone carrying out killing or slaughter, by means other than a free bullet, must ensure that the animal is restrained appropriately and is stunned before slaughter.

Where killing or slaughter of an animal or bird on farm is being considered, we recommend that the advice of a veterinary surgeon is sought before killing takes place.

The rules governing animal welfare at slaughter and killing are set down in Directive 93/119/EC on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or killing implemented in Great Britain by the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995, as amended (WASK). Schedule 1 of WASK sets out the requirements for licences. Schedule 4 sets out the requirements for restraining animals and parts I and II of  Schedule 5 deal with stunning. Schedule 5 also lists the permitted methods of stunning and any specific requirements for those methods. An animal must be killed in accordance with the permitted methods of killing listed in Part III of Schedule 5 of WASK.

The use of gas as a method of killing birds and poultry on farm is permitted:

    • where restrictions on movement have the potential to cause welfare problems in relation to poultry or other birds and the Secretary of State has authorised the use of gas as a killing method on farm;
    • for end of lay hens and end of life breeder birds (the Secretary of State must be given prior notification but does not require specific authorisation by the Secretary of State).

Gas killing must be carried out by a competent and licensed slaughterman. Where gassing takes place using a bird shed as the gas chamber, direct supervision by a veterinary surgeon is required. All killing of birds on farm using gas must be carried out in accordance with the requirements of Schedule 7A of WASK.

Where Secretary of State authorisation to use gas killing is required the authorisation can be general or specific. If general authorisation is given this will be publicised on the Defra website. If specific authorisation is required an application should be made via the local Divisional Veterinary Manager (DVM).

Letter to all Abattoirs – change to the cost of a registered slaughterers licence from 1 January 2010 - PDF 82KB

Religious slaughter

There are long-standing provisions in our law which, subject to specific requirements, permit the slaughter of animals without stunning to meet Jewish and Muslim religious requirements. Whilst the Government would prefer that all animals were stunned before slaughter, it recognises the needs of certain communities and accepts the importance which they attach to the right to slaughter animals for food in accordance with their beliefs. Religious slaughter must be carried out only in approved red meat slaughterhouses or, in the case of poultry, in approved or other officially regulated slaughterhouses (see guidance about religious slaughter for the Muslim community). We attend regular meetings with representatives of the Muslim community to address any areas of ongoing concern. These meetings are chaired by the Food Standards Agency. We also hold occasional meetings with Jewish organisations.

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European Food Safety Authority opinion

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) provides independent scientific advice on all matters linked to food and feed safety - including animal health and welfare - and provides scientific advice in relation to Community legislation. The EFSA Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW) deals with questions on all aspects of animal health and animal welfare, mainly relating to food producing animals (including fish). The Commission services asked the AHAW Panel to give an opinion on the welfare aspects of the main systems of stunning and killing of animals. The opinion was adopted by the AHAW Panel and was published on the 15th June 2004.

Further information

Page last modified: 16 November, 2009