Viva! - Press Release Index

Viva!
8 York Court
Wilder Street
Bristol BS2 8QH Tel: 0117 944 1000
Fax: 0117 924 4646

email:
becky@viva.org.uk

14 March 2000

EXPOSED: SECRET SUFFERING OF BRITISH SHEEP WAITING FOR EID-EL-KABIR SLAUGHTER

A Viva! investigation has revealed for the first time the appalling conditions which exported British sheep endure when waiting to be slaughtered whilst conscious at the Muslim festival of Eid-el-Kabir. The festival is due to take place on 16 March 2000.

Secretly filmed video footage taken at Stains and Montreuil near Paris shows how sheep are kept in overcrowded marquees and disused railway carriages for days on end in the run up to the festival. Injured and dead sheep go unnoticed and some animals are not provided with food or water.

At Stains, Viva!’s investigator found a dead ram with a UK ear tag lying outside one of the railway carriages. Inside the carriages, no food or water was provided.

At Montreuil, the investigator saw blind and three-legged sheep as well as sheep with scab and lameness. All had UK ear tags. Although the animals in the marquee had water, they were not provided with food.

"Our video footage shows the callous disrespect with which these animals are treated in the run up to their deaths," says Viva! Campaigner Becky Smith. "These sheep experience the trauma of being ferried over to France and are then made to spend days in cramped, makeshift accommodation before being killed. On Thursday, their throats will be cut while they are fully conscious and they will be left to bleed to death. The whole business is barbaric."

Viva! has campaigned consistently against the illegal killing of sheep, lambs and goats in open fields in France as part of the festival of Eid el Kabir. Under EU law, animals slaughtered by religious methods do not have to be pre-stunned but they must be killed in licensed abattoirs. In 1997, the French government signing an order revoking permission for people to kill conscious animals in the parks and fields of France. But each year officials simply ‘turn a blind eye’ and allow the killing to continue.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) refuse to ban the export of sheep to the festival, claiming that to do so would be illegal under EU law. However, Fisheries & Countryside minister Elliot Morley admitted in February that, "something needs to be done to prevent the appalling scenes of cruelty to sheep that have occurred in France in previous years during the festival of Eid-el-Kabir."

Says Becky Smith, "We call upon the French authorities to investigate conditions at Stains and Montreuil and to adhere to EU law by banning the open-air killing of conscious animals. And if MAFF is genuinely concerned about the welfare of these animals, they should not allow British sheep to be exported to the festival."

For betacam copies of Viva!’s film or further information, please contact Becky Smith on 0117 944 1000



Viva! 8 York Court Wilder Street Bristol BS2 8QH Tel: 0117 944 1000 Fax: 0117 924 4646 email: becky@viva.org.uk	14 March 2000 EXPOSED: SECRET SUFFERING OF BRITISH SHEEP WAITING FOR EID-EL-KABIR SLAUGHTER A Viva! investigation has revealed for the first time the appalling conditions which exported British sheep endure when waiting to be slaughtered whilst conscious at the Muslim festival of Eid-el-Kabir. The festival is due to take place on 16 March 2000. Secretly filmed video footage taken at Stains and Montreuil near Paris shows how sheep are kept in overcrowded marquees and disused railway carriages for days on end in the run up to the festival. Injured and dead sheep go unnoticed and some animals are not provided with food or water. At Stains, Viva!’s investigator found a dead ram with a UK ear tag lying outside one of the railway carriages. Inside the carriages, no food or water was provided. At Montreuil, the investigator saw blind and three-legged sheep as well as sheep with scab and lameness. All had UK ear tags. Although the animals in the marquee had water, they were not provided with food. "Our video footage shows the callous disrespect with which these animals are treated in the run up to their deaths," says Viva! Campaigner Becky Smith. "These sheep experience the trauma of being ferried over to France and are then made to spend days in cramped, makeshift accommodation before being killed. On Thursday, their throats will be cut while they are fully conscious and they will be left to bleed to death. The whole business is barbaric." Viva! has campaigned consistently against the illegal killing of sheep, lambs and goats in open fields in France as part of the festival of Eid el Kabir. Under EU law, animals slaughtered by religious methods do not have to be pre-stunned but they must be killed in licensed abattoirs. In 1997, the French government signing an order revoking permission for people to kill conscious animals in the parks and fields of France. But each year officials simply ‘turn a blind eye’ and allow the killing to continue. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) refuse to ban the export of sheep to the festival, claiming that to do so would be illegal under EU law. However, Fisheries & Countryside minister Elliot Morley admitted in February that, "something needs to be done to prevent the appalling scenes of cruelty to sheep that have occurred in France in previous years during the festival of Eid-el-Kabir." Says Becky Smith, "We call upon the French authorities to investigate conditions at Stains and Montreuil and to adhere to EU law by banning the open-air killing of conscious animals. And if MAFF is genuinely concerned about the welfare of these animals, they should not allow British sheep to be exported to the festival." For betacam copies of Viva!’s film or further information, please contact Becky Smith on 0117 944 1000