The 290th session: Animal welfare issues in Poland ,17 January 2013
Current animal welfare issues in
the farming sector
Slaughter, transport and animal markets
Andrzej Elzanowski
Polish Academy of Sciences
and
Polish Ethics Society
Slaughter
The general (probably not only Polish) problem: piecework.
Not only the butchers but also the Veterinary Inspection
(and ultimately the appointed veterinarians) are paid a
piece rate.
Nobody is interested in real checks that could slow down
the production line.
In fact, nobody is interested in the presence of a
veterinarian during slaughter!
Ritual slaughter w/o stunning
There can be no doubt that the procedure of slaugther ing w/o prior
stunning is much more inhumane than anystandard procedure(s):
Dialrel Report 2010
EFSA 2004 Welfare Aspects of Animal Stunning and Killing Methods
(Question No EFSA-Q-2003-093):
FAWC 2003, Part 1: Red Meat Animals); FAWC 2009 (Part 2: White Meat
Animals
British Veterinary Association, 2012, Welfare at slaughter and food labelling.
(Briefing for MEPs)
Federation of Veterinarians of Europe 2002. Slaughter od animals without
prior stunning. (FVE position paper).
A. Kijstra & B. Lambooij 2008 Ritueel slachten en het welzijn van dieren.
Besides, even the religious rationale for ritual slaughter turns out to be
based on superstition: several laboratories confirmed that stunning
does not affect blood loss (Anil 2002).
Ritual slaughter in Poland:
rotary pens, no alleviating measures
Ritual slaughter started illegally
before 2004 and expanded rapidly,
out of the public eye but with a full
cooperation of veterinary authorities
who did nothing to make more
humane.
Over 300 000 cattle per year are
killed that way 
Officially there are 16 halal and 2
schechita slaughterhouses.
What happens to unkosher meat
from schechita?
The fate of the hind quarters that are rejected by religious Jews
remains unclear. At least some of them probably end up on
regular market (althgough one representative of the industry
maintained that they are exported as halal meat).
The industry is secretive but some details from the LesznoGostyn complex have been published*: 100 cows are killed daily
in Leszno, then transported to Gostyń. The carcasses are
processed (skinned, vessels removed) and the rabbies inspect
and test the cracass. As a result on the average only 20
carcasses pass the kosher test and 80 are sold to general
public.
* In an interview with Paweł Bramson, a prominent Jewish activist, who works at
Gostyn as a supervisor (mashgiach).
Transport of unweaned calves:
the ordeal continues
Well over 100 000 unweaned calves
per year have been exported from
Poland to Italy (average journey time
25 hours), The Netherlands, and
Spain.
After many years, Polish veterinary authortities declare being unable to
secure minimum welfare standards of long distance transport of calves to
comply with Regulation (EC) 1/2005, in particular to provide appropriate
feeding.
In addition the FVO noted (in the last 2011 Report) the lack of recording by
satellite navigation systems (SNS) as required for journeys over 8 hours,
and no appropriate instructions provided by Polish vet authortities
Animal markets
Probably some 100 000 animals
(mammals and birds) pass annually
through 55 markets
(as located by Viva, legal and illegal),
where animals are regularly traded.
Repeatedly recorded violations:
Kozłów Biskupi 13/11/ 2012
beating, using electric prods, twisting tails, pulling ears, dropping from a
truck;
sticking piglets, birds (often many of them) and calves in sacks that are
thrown into trunks/boots;
bringing in sick animals who cannot even stand;
keeping dehydrated animals without any access to water:
keeping form many hours unmilked cows, with milk dropping from the udder;
no shelters against extreme weather (above +30 Cº or -20 Cº);
no loading platforms;
vehicles not adapted for transporting animals.
Animal markets:appalling negligence
of Veterinary Inspection
Despite years of reporting appalling
cruelties by NGOs (by Viva and others)
there is no improvement (as shown by
the FVO 2011 audit):
Bodzentyn 3/11/2012
downers are dragged to the vehicles
 animals routinely tied by the horns
all without any reaction of the local
veterinary authority.
Many markets are not controled even formally: The Veterinary Inspection
ignores Animal Welfare Act and refuses to inspect markets that have not
been registered (following an absurd interpretation of law)
The overarching, fundamental problem:
obstruction of animal welfare improvements
by the Department of Agriculture
and its top veterinary officers
The attitude of Poland´s Dept of Agriculture:
„humanitarianism is for the humanists” (M. Sawicki in
response to cruelty at animal markets)
Systematic erosion of EU laws (mistranslations, removal of
axiological message)
Degradation of national law under the pretext of transposing
EU law: the minimum EU requirements are routinely
presented as the required standards.