Make CCTV mandatory in the UK's equine slaughterhouses

The sad reality is that thousands of horses will end their lives in a UK slaughterhouse this year, but how they are treated there is effectively 'invisible' as there is no guarantee that CCTV is being used to help monitor their welfare.

While we have clear laws setting out how to protect horse welfare at slaughter, public confidence that these are adhered to has been severely undermined by revelations unearthed from covert CCTV footage in 2013. Unsurprisingly this has also undermined public confidence in choosing slaughter as an option.

We want to ensure that the whole slaughter process is made transparent through the mandatory use of CCTV or other recording technology in all UK equine slaughterhouses and is accessible and checked by the relevant authorities, such as the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to support their monitoring efforts. CCTV is already recommended by the FSA, British Veterinary Association, UNISON and the Farm Animal Welfare Council among many other organisations.

Almost 50,000 of you asked Defra for mandatory CCTV in 2013, but they said its installation should be voluntary. However in 2015 the uptake of CCTV has remained at around 49% across all UK ‘red meat’ slaughterhouses. This is why we need a mandatory approach.

Installing CCTV in all UK equine slaughterhouses will help reassure the public that every horse going to a slaughterhouse will have his or her welfare monitored throughout.

Please sign the petition and join us in calling for the mandatory use of CCTV in all of the UK’s equine slaughterhouses NOW and in the future.