Animal Equality Introduces A New Initiative to Protect Animals in Hidalgo
On December 20, 2021, during the session of the Hidalgo Congress and with support of a member of the Legislative Group of the Labor Party and 9 other deputies and local animal groups as well as civil associations such as Biofutura, Animal Equality proposed a bill with a draft decree that reforms and adds provisions to a current animal protection law in the state. This initiative was introduced after the launch of the Animal Equality investigation in the Tizayuca Slaughterhouse and the legal complaints presented.
WHAT THE LAW WILL MEAN FOR ANIMALS: The bill will mandate the inclusion of a farmed animal welfare section in the “Ley de Protección y Trato Digno a los Animales del Estado Libre y Soberano de Hidalgo.” – Law for the Protection of Animals in Hidalgo, and the classification of two new crimes.
When passed, it will:
- Prohibit forced molting, meaning deprivation of food and water during the animals’ lifetime
- Guarantee breed selection takes into account animal health
- Mandate that painful mutilations (such as dehorning, tail cutting, castration) must be performed by trained personnel under veterinary supervision
- Require that animals be stunned before slaughter
- Require that no other animals be present when another animal is slaughtered
- Mandate video surveillance at slaughterhouses
- Ensure that all animals have access to adequate food and water
- Provide animals with significant environmental enrichment, enough dark time to rest, and enough light
- Provide guidelines for natural disaster management that include evacuation if required
- Mandate that stocking density must allow access to food and water for chicken production and permit animals to move and change posture naturally
- Provide a penalty with a fine, jail, and revocation of authorizations to anyone who does not apply the permitted stunning and killing methods and anyone who manages or operates clandestine slaughterhouses
WHY IS IT SO NECESSARY?: Animals raised and killed for consumption suffer tremendously from their breeding to their slaughter because there are currently no criteria that establish how to provide them with the most basic welfare.
In the state of Hidalgo, around 41 million farmed animals are raised and killed for food, most of which are birds. In addition, Hidalgo is popular for the production of sheep for barbecue. There are around 125 slaughterhouses in the territory.
HOW DO ANIMALS USED FOR FOOD LIVE AND DIE?: On farms, animals live in overcrowded conditions and are subjected to cruel practices such as being deprived of food and water that, in the case of chickens, for example, is used to accelerate the laying of eggs.
Once the animals arrive to the slaughterhouse, their suffering worsens and culminates in a slaughter that does not adhere to Official Mexican Standards – in terms of slaughter or transport – as we demonstrated in our shocking investigation in the Regional Municipal Trail of Tizayuca, Hidalgo.
Once this law is approved, Animal Equality will develop the rules and regulations for farmed animals in Hidalgo municipalities. The initiative will be voted on in 2022. We are confident it will pass.
Sign the petition (in Spanish) to help increase legal protections for animals.
