Flanders gets rid of unsedated slaughter

28 June 2017
Flanders gets rid of unsedated slaughter

Approval by the Flemish Parliament was virtually unanimous for a decree that will get rid of unsedated slaughter by 2019. This historic step toward extending and improving animal welfare has now been firmly established by decree. The slaughterhouses have 18 months’ time to prepare their staff and infrastructure for a new slaughtering method. “After years of battling and legwork - and after loads of criticism - we finally have a general prohibition on unsedated slaughter,” says a delighted Ben Weyts, the Flemish Minister for Animal Welfare.

Animals have to be sedated for slaughter, but there has long been an exception to this rule for slaughter on religious grounds. Even today, considerable use is still being made of this exception.

New method of slaughter

This exception will no longer apply as of 1 January 2019. At that point slaughter within the context of a religious ritual will require a reversible sedation technique such as electronarcosis: a painless technique whereby the sedated animal becomes impervious to pain. The ban applies to all categories of animals. The only exception to this - for now - is calves and cattle, because the reversible sedation technique for these larger animals has not yet been fully perfected. As soon as that is the case, the Flemish Government will make the use of reversible sedation obligatory for these animals too. Until then, the decree makes it mandatory to apply a method in which the sedation takes place immediately after the throat is cut (post-cut stunning), which is already a huge step forward in animal welfare.

“Flanders occupies a leading role in the EU in the field of animal welfare. That means I take pride, not just as Minister of Animal Welfare, but as a Fleming too,” Minister Weyts concludes.

You can find more background information on the issue of unsedated slaughter here.

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