Who Regulates The Meat Industry In The UK?

Hi there, It's Abi here, the
Executive Director of Animal Equality UK.
Our organisation is known
for its powerful undercover
investigations
into factory farms and slaughterhouses.
We’ve visited over 800 facilities
around the world
exposing extreme
animal cruelty and suffering.
Recently we carried out an investigation
of a different kind,
this time in the form
of a groundbreaking report,
and our findings should alarm
any consumer.
Together with The Animal Law Foundation,
this first-of-its-kind report
looks into the shortcomings
in the ways that animal protection laws
are currently being monitored
and what exactly happens
when these laws are found to be broken.
Our findings are disturbing,
and they reinforce
what undercover investigations
have been showing for decades: that
ultimately the animal agriculture industry
does not have adequate oversight
and is leaving the opportunity
for perpetrators to receive little more
than a slap on the wrist when they are
found to be breaking the laws.
It’s an issue that we are calling
‘The Enforcement Problem’.
There are over 300,000 farms in the UK
housing over one billion animals,
and yet our investigation showed
that fewer than 3% of farms on average
over a four-year period were inspected
by a regulatory body.
Yes, you heard that right.
What that means is that 97
out of every 100 farms
were not formally inspected.
It leaves the opportunity
for potential animal abuse
to be going entirely undetected.
So at this point, you’re
probably wondering: how on earth
can that possibly be the case?
Well, one of the primary reasons
is that there appears
to be a serious lack of inspectors
in place.
Our investigation,
alongside The Animal Law Foundation,
found that there is on average
just one inspector responsible
for 205 farms,
and many of them also work part-time.
That is a huge responsibility
for one single individual,
especially if you consider that
some individual farms house over
hundreds of thousands of animals
in a single facility.
The second issue is that this is an
extremely chaotic and disorderly system.
It is made up of over 180
taxpayer-funded bodies who are responsible
for ensuring that the laws that are in
place are properly monitored
and properly enforced.
Sounds like a lot, right?
And that’s because it is.
It’s an extremely complicated system,
so bear with me
as I begin to explain
exactly how that works.
So, in England,
you have Defra who is responsible.
In Scotland
you have The Scottish Government.
In Wales, the Welsh Government.
And in Northern Ireland, DAERA.
Inspections occur only very rarely
and those farms that are considered
‘high risk’ are prioritised, perhaps
because they have been at the centre
of an animal abuse scandal in the past,
or have received a complaint for example.
Just think about that for a moment
though.
That is an extremely reactionary
and problematic approach.
It means that the vast majority of farms
that are considered not to be ‘high risk’
are therefore receiving little attention
from regulatory bodies.
In our report,
with The Animal Law Foundation,
we also found that when complaints
were sent to regulatory bodies,
for example by whistleblowers
or groups like Animal Equality,
just 50% of those complaints
then led to a formal inspection.
This is extremely worrying.
When inspections do then take place
in England, Wales and Scotland, it
falls under the local authorities to then
carry out legal enforcement actions.
Whereas, in Northern Ireland, it’s
the responsibility of DAERA.
It actually falls
under the remit of the FSA, FSS and DAERA
when it comes to carrying out land animals
welfare checks in slaughterhouses
in England, Wales, Scotland
and Northern Ireland respectively.
When there is evidence of unlawfulness
that has been discovered,
if a prosecution was to take place,
in England that would fall under the Crown
Prosecution Service, in Wales
the Welsh Government, in Scotland
the Procurator Fiscal
and in Northern Ireland,
the Public Prosecution Service.
Are you still with me?
As I said,
this is an extremely complicated process
and just imagine,
if it is this hard
for me to explain it to you,
what is it actually like in practice?
But one thing is crystal
clear: The Enforcement Problem
is of national importance.
We must act urgently on this.
Because how can the UK continue to claim
to be a leader in animal welfare,
when fewer than 3% of farms on average
are being inspected?
Animal Equality’s
investigations have found time and again
that laws are being broken, and yet
there is little justice for the animals.
We’ve seen pigs having their tails
cut off routinely, hens
being crammed into overcrowded cages,
and cows unable to stand, or even walk.
You can do something about this by leaving
animals off your plate today, and please
also sign Animal Equality’s petition
calling for all farms to be licensed.
In doing so, they all be subject
to more unannounced inspections
and more robust inspections.
And it also gives the UK Government
the opportunity to revoke licenses
for those farms to operate
where illegality has been discovered.
Thank you for joining us
in defending farmed animals.