CIWF FILM OF HORRIFIC ABATTOIR CONDITIONS

Plight of live export cattle at Egyptian abattoir set to shock Cairo welfare summit

NEWS RELEASE

17 February 2006

Some of the most horrifying abattoir cruelty ever recorded by Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) is to be exposed at a conference in Cairo. The conference, which is being held in association with the Egyptian General Organisation for Veterinary Services (GOVS), will cover the issues of slaughter and transportation of farm animals.

CIWF is co-sponsoring the one-day conference on 18 February, and will show Egyptian veterinary, agricultural and farm animal welfare officials and experts harrowing video footage which the organisation obtained of cattle being slaughtered at the Bassatin abattoir in Cairo.

The video details brutal and chaotic slaughter practices that breach both international welfare and Halal slaughter guidelines - and pose serious food safety and public health risks. The footage will cause alarm across the world: cattle from several countries, notably Australia, Hungary and Romania, are transported long-distance to Bassatin for slaughter.

The footage shows animals already visibly weakened from their gruelling sea or land journeys, being beaten, dragged to the ground and having their throats cut without pre-stunning - some are slashed repeatedly before the arteries are severed. Shockingly, one animal struggles to its feet while bleeding out.

Moreover, slaughter and carcase dressing take place in the same area: "I recorded living animals being thrown on top of the dying beside a line of severed heads and skinned bodies," says CIWF's investigator who obtained the footage.

"Meanwhile, the next terrified animals due for slaughter were jumped on by abattoir staff and pulled down to be killed. There was so much blood, workers had to struggle to stop themselves slipping. It was hell on earth."

These practices contravene World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) slaughter guidelines which Egypt has endorsed. They state, amongst other things, that slaughter must not be carried out in front of other animals. This is just one aspect that also renders the killing practices at Bassatin un-Islamic, according to Masood Khawaja, President of the UK-based Halal Food Authority who, referring to the footage, speaks of: "The total disregard for the welfare of the animal as we understand the Islamic dictum."

Australians, in particular, will be especially disturbed by the video, according to CIWF's Oceania representative Carole de Fraga. "Not only are our cattle being forced to endure horrendous voyages of thousands of miles to the Middle East for slaughter, they must then endure the terror of places like Bassatin. This abattoir is yet another good reason why the international export of live animals must be ended - there is no good reason why meat cannot be exported instead."

The video is narrated by Australian television vet Scott Miller, animal expert for both the UK's This Morning and The Paul O'Grady Show. It will be shown to the conference by CIWF's Director of Communications Kerry Burgess, who will call upon the Egyptian authorities to work with CIWF and the other groups, not only to improve conditions in Bassatin, but to ensure that international humane slaughter guidelines are respected in all slaughterhouses in the country.

The conference is being co-organised by the Egyptian Society of Animal Friends (ESAF) and the Society for the Protection of Animal Rights in Egypt (SPARE) in association with the Egyptian Federation for Animal Welfare.

End

Notes

The film footage is available on the DVD 'Bassatin Slaughterhouse investigation'
by request on email:press@ciwf.co.uk

For further information contact:
Kerry Burgess on tel. +44 (0)7787 148759 (UK) or +20124097823 (Egypt)

Or Laurence Stephenson on +44 (0) 1730 264 208 ext 236 or +44 (0)7771 926005

Editors Notes

The conference will take place at the Concorde Al Salam Hotel, Abdel Hamid Badawi St. , Heliopolis, Cairo between 0900 and 1800 on Saturday 18 February 2006. Media representatives may attend by prior arrangement.

Compassion in World Farming Trust (CIWF Trust) is an educational charity dedicated to advancing farm animal welfare.

Compassion in World Farming is the leading international farm animal welfare organisation and works in alliance with animal protection organisations around the world. CIWF has offices in Australia, Republic of Ireland, France, Netherlands and South Africa.

End

Source: Compassion in World Farming
Author: CIWF

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