Concerns over new rules for poultry slaughter
If parameters are not set and implemented correctly, some birds could be immobilised rather than stunned before slaughter.
A gap in new regulations for poultry slaughter could compromise animal welfare, the BVA has said.
The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (WATOK) Regulations come into force today (5 November). While they have been generally welcomed, the BVA is concerned that the new rules do not include stunning parameters for poultry killed 'in accordance with religious rites'.
This could result in a percentage of birds being immobilised rather than stunned, meaning they are still conscious at the time of slaughter.
BVA's president Sean Wensley said this omission "undermines the science the regulations are built upon".
European laws on welfare at slaughter include rules on stunning, based on work carried out by the European Food Safety Authority to assess the parameters for electrical water bath stunning of poultry.
BVA has previously called for European legislation to be fully implemented through WATOK. There is a high risk that if the parameters in electrical water bath stunning are not correctly set and implemented for birds killed 'in accordance with religious rites', then stunning will be ineffective in some birds.
"It is difficult to see how effective stunning can be assured for all poultry if parameters are not set when poultry are killed in accordance with religious rites," Mr Wensley commented.
"Slaughtermen, official veterinarians and animal welfare officers in abattoirs are not able to tell the difference between birds that have been effectively stunned and those that are just electro-mobilised, thus compromising the animal welfare standards that these regulations are being put in place to protect."
The BVA has written to Defra to seek urgent clarification on how the new legislation will ensure effective stunning for all poultry before slaughter.
These concerns aside, the BVA has largely welcomed the regulations, which contain new provisions to improve welfare at slaughter, such as the introduction of certificates of competence and the requirement for large slaughterhouses to have an animal welfare officer.
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
