The Pig in Need Foundation has filed a complaint against a slaughterhouse that allegedly drowned pigs in hot water. According to the foundation, things went wrong repeatedly at the company last year.
It is against the law to slaughter pigs consciously, with the exception of ritual slaughter. It is also prohibited by law to hurt or injure animals unnecessarily. The foundation wants the slaughterhouse, which has not been disclosed, to comply with the law and to demand criminal sanctions.
Serious abuses
Pigs in Need requested reports from the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) earlier this year. Which showed that from early 2018 to June 2019 serious abuses regularly occurred in the slaughtering of pigs in Dutch slaughterhouses.
In the twelve NVWA inspection reports, six cases of pigs entered a so-called scalding box alive. Varkens in Nood stated that the actual number of incidents is probably much higher, because some incidents are deliberately not reported and NVWA inspectors cannot be present everywhere.
The NVWA can issue a warning in the event of a violation or issue a fine of 1500 euros per violation. According to Frederieke Schouten, director of Varkens in Nood, that is not nearly enough to tackle the problems. “Administrative fines from the NVWA are completely insufficient here. They do not in any way do justice to the seriousness of the crimes. Moreover, the low fines have no deterrent effect whatsoever, as is clear from the repetition of the violations.”
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