Exposing Brazil’s Self-Control Law: The Global Risk of Factory Farm Oversight
Animal Equality’s recent investigation exposes animals skinned alive and suffering inside unregulated Brazilian slaughterhouses.
This investigation highlights Brazil’s Self-Control Law, which allows slaughterhouses to regulate themselves, and the global issue of factory farm oversight.
This lack of effective oversight enables slaughterhouses to operate without supervision, increasing the risk of zoonoses, food contamination, and animal cruelty.
As demonstrated in previous investigations conducted by Animal Equality, the absence of government inspectors leads to the minimum animal welfare standards during pre-slaughter and slaughter processes being ignored.
➡ Discover more about the investigation findings: https://animalequality.org/news/dangers-of-brazils-self-control-law/.
As the global fight for stronger protections continues, you have the power to create change with every plant-based choice.
Join the Love Veg movement today: https://ae.onl/loveveg-organicvimeo.
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Transcript (English — en)
Did you know that in Brazil, millions
of animals are slaughtered each year
under conditions that do not meet
minimum welfare standards?
Imagine a place where sanitation and animal welfare regulations
are not properly enforced.
This is exactly what is happening
with slaughterhouse inspections in Brazil
due to the Self-Control Law,
which in reality should
be called the "Self-Inspection Law."
In Brazil,
nearly 7 billion animals are slaughtered annually,
and the lack of proper inspection makes slaughter
even more cruel.
It's the government's job to inspect companies,
and inspectors should work independently,
without any connection to the companies they oversee.
However, the Self-Control Law, passed in 2022,
allows companies themselves to hire their inspectors.
You can see the result now.
In 2022, we launched an investigation
in which we filmed slaughterhouses
in different regions of Brazil
and documented that basic animal welfare protocols
were being ignored
due to the weakening of inspections in the country.
Animals were not properly stunned
and, in many cases, had their skin, legs, and horns
removed while they were still alive and conscious.
Now, with the Self-Control Law,
scenes like these will become even more frequent.
To prove this,
in July 2024, we carried out a new investigation,
this time in slaughterhouses in the State of São Paulo,
where a law similar to the Self-Control Law
had already been in effect
long before the federal law was passed.
These images show what the reality
for animals will be across Brazil.
With the Self-Control Law, inspectors lose their autonomy,
because if they fine companies,
they may face administrative proceedings.
But, on the other hand, if they can no longer
inspect and fine companies,
the animals will become even more vulnerable.
Since 2021, Animal Equality has been
working to expose the flaws of the Self-Control Law.
Together with 38 other organizations related
to animal protection, environmental protection,
consumer rights, and public health,
we managed to delay the Senate's
approval of this law by six months.
However, despite our efforts,
the law was approved and enacted.
But we can still win, and that’s why we will not give up.
In 2023, we filed a request to act as "amicus curiae,"
which means "friend of the court," to provide advice
to ministers of the Supreme Federal Court.
This was for a case called a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality,
which has yet to be decided upon.
This action requests that the Self-Control Law be overturned,
due to the threats it can pose to society and animals.
The weakening of agricultural inspections
not only exposes animals to more suffering,
also puts your health and
the health of your loved ones at risk.
Show that you, too, are against this absurdity.
Sign our petition against the Self-Control Law.
And remember: the best way to help animals
is to choose a plant-based diet,
because no animal needs to lose their life for you to eat.