The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has reaffirmed its commitment to continue lobbying the European Parliament for increased transparency for consumers over whether the meat they buy comes from animals that have been stunned prior to slaughter.

The BVA said it welcomed the European Parliament’s decision to extend mandatory country of origin labelling to fresh meat from pigs, sheep, goats and poultry, but that this did not detract from the fact that consumers have the right to know whether their meat comes from animals that have been slaughtered without having been stunned, a practice that has recently been outlawed in the Netherlands.

The proposals on food information for consumers were adopted with an overwhelming majority in the European Parliament yesterday (6^th July).  However, in order to reach a consensus the amendment which sought to introduce compulsory labelling of meat and meat products from animals slaughtered without stunning had to be withdrawn.  It was agreed that information on the stunning of animals would be considered in future policy discussions on the EU strategy for the protection and welfare of animals.

Commenting on the outcome of yesterday’s European Parliament talks, Harvey Locke, BVA President, said, “This political compromise will not detract us from continuing to lobby strongly for the issue of animals slaughtered without stunning to be included in future European animal welfare proposals from the Commission.”

Meat from animals slaughtered without stunning currently enters the mainstream food chain without being labelled, leaving consumers without their right to make an informed choice on animal welfare grounds. Locke explained, “Slaughter without pre-stunning unnecessarily compromises animal welfare; there is no debate about this within the scientific community.  By ensuring that all meat from animals that are not stunned only enters the specific communities that it is targeted at, we can make a significant difference.” 

He continued, “We have a moral obligation to each animal we use and we must do all we can to ensure the highest level of welfare for our livestock.  We would urge Commissioner Dalli to keep slaughter high on the agenda and quickly bring forward new animal welfare proposals that deal with this issue.”