Media release – Farm Transparency Project, 8 December 2023
Major Tasmanian abattoir suspended and four more under investigation after animal advocacy group reveals “systemic animal abuse and regulatory breaches”
New hidden camera footage released by Farm Transparency Project shows widespread animal cruelty and regulatory breaches across five Tasmanian slaughterhouses, accounting for over a quarter of the state’s industry.
The footage, which includes the slaughter of pigs, cows, sheep, deer and week-old ‘bobby calves’ shows animals being killed while fully conscious, or regaining consciousness after their throat had been slit. At one facility, Tasmanian Quality Meats, dozens of calves are killed without stunning, with one drowning in blood after being dropped onto the floor while still conscious. At other facilities, animals are shot multiple times, hit, kicked and jumped on by workers to force them into the kill room. Two of the five slaughterhouses were previously reported to authorities in 2016, after a similar investigation showed violence, abuse and cruelty towards animals.
Chris Delforce, Executive Director of Farm Transparency Project says that this investigation shows “systemic animal abuse in Tasmanian slaughterhouses and a total failure of government regulators to enforce already-pitiful animal welfare standards.”
“Seven years ago, an investigation revealed horrific abuse occurring in Tasmanian abattoirs, Yet, despite formal complaints being made to authorities, no improvements have been made. In some cases, things are actually worse than ever. How are Tasmanian citizens supposed to have faith in a regulatory system which has shown such an absolute failure to protect the welfare of the animals it’s intended to safeguard from cruelty?”
Delforce says that the abuse is particularly concerning as much of it occurred within view of CCTV cameras installed at the facilities, indicating a failure from regulators to monitor and enforce adherence to animal welfare standards.
“In Australia, animals are slaughtered with little to no oversight. What legal requirements do exist, go unenforced due a failure of the government and regulators to monitor what happens behind slaughterhouse walls. This secrecy is what allows slaughter industries, such as meat, dairy and eggs, to use misleading labels such as ‘humane,’ ‘world leading’ and ‘high welfare’ when referring to their practices, phrases which fall apart as soon as footage of these same practices is made available.”
Farm Transparency Project captured the footage across August and September 2023, when investigators illegally entered and installed cameras at some of Tasmania’s largest slaughterhouses, including the state’s largest sheep and calf slaughterhouse, Tasmanian Quality Meats, and the biggest pig slaughterhouse on the island, Scottsdale Pork. Other slaughterhouses were The Local Meat Co (formerly Kentish Quality Meats), Wal’s Bulk Foods and Gretna Meatworks, all multi-species abattoirs which provide killing services for private kills and local butchers.
The group is calling on the Tasmanian government to immediately suspend the operating license of all the facilities where illegal activity has been uncovered, as well as to call a Tasmanian parliamentary inquiry into the systemic failures of slaughterhouse regulators. They are also calling for an independent review of Tasmanian slaughter methods.
Investigative Summary
New hidden camera footage captured by Farm Transparency Project shows widespread animal cruelty and regulatory breaches across five Tasmanian slaughterhouses, accounting for over a quarter of the state’s industry. A comprehensive investigation documenting the slaughter of pigs, cows, sheep, deer and week-old ‘bobby calves’ in the state has revealed what campaigners are describing as ‘systemic animal abuse in Tasmanian slaughterhouses, and a total failure of government regulators to enforce already-pitiful animal welfare standards.’
The investigation took place over a one month period and shows animals being killed while fully conscious, or regaining consciousness after their throat had been slit. At one facility, dozens of calves are killed without stunning, over a week-long period, with one drowning in blood after being dropped onto the floor while still conscious. At other facilities, cows are shot multiple times, hit and jumped on by workers to force them into the kill room, while at yet another, pigs are seen to continue to show signs of consciousness, including blinking, for minutes after their throats slit.
Multiple animals are seen attempting to escape, often jumping from great heights onto hard concrete floors. Those animals are then chased, restrained and slaughtered, sometimes while fully conscious. Two of the five slaughterhouses were previously reported to authorities in 2016, after a similar investigation showed violence, abuse and cruelty towards animals.
Campaigners are calling on the Tasmanian government to immediately suspend the operating license of all the facilities where illegal activity has been uncovered, and call a Tasmanian parliamentary inquiry into the systemic failures of slaughterhouse regulators. They are also calling for an independent review of Tasmanian slaughter methods.
Facility summaries
Tasmanian Quality Meats, Cressy
● Dozens of calves slaughtered while fully conscious
● Calves and sheep displaying ongoing signs of consciousness after having been stuck
● Multiple instances of workers kicking, whipping, beating and throwing calves and sheepwhile forcing them into the restraint.
Gretna Meatworks, Gretna
Sheep, pigs, goats and cows:
● Ineffectively restrained, needlessly drawing out an already terrifying slaughter process in which most have seen the stunning and, in some cases, sticking of the animals before them
● Poorly stunned, displaying signs of partial or full consciousness and requiring additional stunning attempts
● Thrown, kicked, walked upon, dragged by their tails, ears or horns, jabbed or hit with metal tools, repeatedly subjected to an electric prodder including on the face, or otherwise moved with excessive force
Wal’s Bulk Meats, Stowport
● Cows displaying signs of consciousness after being shot multiple times, and gettin stuck in the clearly unsuitable knockbox machinery
● Excessive jabbing of cows and pigs with an electric prodder, including on the face, and other uses of excessive force including striking, kicking, pulling body parts
● Poor electrical stunning of sheep, resulting in multiple failed attempts and post-stunning consciousness, exacerbating an already-terrifying slaughter process
Scottsdale Pork
Pigs:
● Being kicked, punched, or repeatedly hit with a door as a means of forcing them towards the stunning box
● Exhibiting clear signs of consciousness/sensibility after electric stunning, including blinking, rhythmic breathing and righting reflexes. Pigs who are not then stunned with a bolt gun are likely entering the scalding tank while still conscious.
The Local Meat Co
● Multiple instances of workers hitting, striking, throwing and kicking sheep, while forcing them into the race
● Ineffective stunning of cows in the knockbox, leading to cows being shot up to five times before collapsing
● Inadequate equipment, meaning that cows often become stuck in the machinery of the knockbox, sometimes while still conscious.
Editor’s note: FTP images are at the bottom of this page. Please do not scroll to the bottom if you do not wish to see them. Video can be viewed at the FTP Dropbox.
Media release – Janie Finlay MP, Shadow Minister for Primary Industries and Water, Shadow Minister for Small Business, 8 December 2023
Export licence must remain in place for processor
All levels of government must work together to ensure that Tasmanian Quality Meats (TQM) retains its export licence.
The decision will have significant implications not only for the state’s economy and the 200 jobs at TQM, but also for the Tasmanian agricultural sector and our sheep farmers who rely on its operation.
Let be be clear, there is no excuse for animal cruelty, and Tasmanian Labor supports a full investigation into this matter.
I understand that TQM management took immediate action to rectify the situation, including the retraining and redeployment of the individuals involved, the appointment of an animal welfare officer and mandatory training for all employees.
TQM is the only abattoir in the state that is export accredited, and with more than 120,000 lambs likely to be processed at this facility by the end of January, it must remain open.
Suspending the export licence will be devastating and have far reaching consequences.
The Rockliff Government must work with the Federal Government to ensure this business continues to be able to support Tasmanian farmers.
Media release – Animal Liberation Tasmania, 8 December 2023
— untitled —
In 2017, Animal Liberation Tasmania was involved in the release of hidden camera footage from Tasmanian Quality Meats, Cressy. That footage provided a damning insight into the workings of one of Tasmania’s largest slaughterhouses.
In the seven years since that release it seems nothing has changed. Indeed, slaughter conditions at TQM have only become worse.
This reveals the systemic issues of slaughter.
Slaughterhouses are by nature places of horror for animals. But the footage from TQM recently obtained and released by Farm Transparency Project shows an egregious level of violence exhibited at that facility.
Animal Liberation Tasmania welcomes the suspension of TQM, however it should never have come to this point.
The simple fact of the matter is that other animals do not want to die. And yet billions of sentient land and marine animals are slaughtered in Australia for domestic and international markets every single year. Each individual dies a violent death to which they did not consent.
The failure of successive Tasmanian governments in addressing the systemic issues exposed at multiple Tasmanian slaughterhouses (TQM, Gretna and Cressy 2016/17) is a damning indictment of how little concern government and industry alike have for the lives and welfare of animals, though they use animal welfare as a means to appear more progressive than they actually are.
Rosalie Woodruff MP, Greens Leader, 8 December 2023
Devastating Abattoir Footage Exposes Systemic Animal Cruelty
Devastating new footage released by the Farm Transparency Project today has again shone a light on the systemic cruelty to animals occurring in Tasmanian abattoirs.
The footage, captured by animal activists at five separate abattoirs across the state, shows indescribably awful scenes of innocent animals that struggle against, and then suffer, violent deaths.
While advertising from the meat industry tries to pretend Tasmanian farm animals live a pleasant life, the videos lay bare the reality of brutal treatment and conscious suffering.
The industry tries to present the appalling treatment of animals as a slip up here and there, but this new release of videos has made a mockery of that claim. Five abattoirs from across the state are all captured, through extensive footage, undertaking successive disturbing acts of cruelty as part of their everyday practice.
These videos show yet again the critical and urgent need for Tasmania’s animal welfare laws to be strengthened. The Greens have pushed for these reforms of years, but the Liberal and Labor parties have consistently stood in the way of improving animal welfare. Only last year we proposed multiple amendments to the Animal Welfare Act, supported by the RSPCA and animal advocates, but the major parties teamed up to block extra protections for animals.
With this extensive shocking footage now in the public domain, from five abattoirs, it’s up to the state and federal governments to act. Governments cannot sit on their hands while this sort of cruelty occurs in Tasmania.
This is a systemic issue with the industry, and animals will continue to suffer the consequences until governments step in to strengthen the law, to ensure proper oversight, and to make sure there’s real consequences for cruelty.
GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING
IMAGES OF ABUSED ANIMALS BELOW
