Animal rights group urged to hand over Pinchbeck abattoir footage to Food Standards Agency
An industry body is calling on an animal rights group to hand over secret footage recorded at a Pinchbeck abattoir to the Food Standards Agency.
The British Meat Processors Agency (BMPA) says the Animal Justice Project footage which was taken at Woodhead Brothers to be handed over to the authorities.
Footage recorded by an undercover agent late last year shows staff using electric prods on cattle, paddles of pigs and lame animals collapsing. A story based on the footage appeared in The Times earlier this week.
Abattoir owners Morrisons says the footage was ‘concerning' and will be looking carefully at what has happened.
A spokesman from the BMPA said: “The Food Standards Agency and official veterinarians oversee the slaughter and processing of animals, so they will no doubt want to examine the raw, un-edited footage to verify where the images were taken and then to determine whether or not any rules were broken.
“Because the film has been so heavily edited, we assume that the footage has been submitted to the FSA in its un-edited form with the original sound recording, and we look forward to hearing the FSA’s assessment.”
The BMPA says it works with industry and the Government to raise and maintain food standards.