Biography
Biography: Lewis G. Grant
Abstract
The use of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) in slaughterhouses for the purposes of providing additional supervision of animal handling and slaughter practices is much debated in several countries. CCTV is already often used by Food Business Operators (FBOs) to facilitate them in discharging their regulatory responsibilities requiring them to ensure that animals under their care are handled from arrival, unloading, lairaging to slaughter in a humane manner, in accordance with the current Welfare Regulations. Under Council Regulation (EC) 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing, FBOs must have trained operatives with Certificates of Competence (COCs) to handle live animals as well as Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and CCTV greatly assists the FBO in ensuring Compliance with the Regulation. However, the application of CCTV remains, in many countries, voluntary and variably regulated. In most cases, the Official Veterinarian does not have access to this system nor the resultant footage to assist him/her in carrying out his verification role with respect to the monitoring of animal welfare standards. As a consequence of undercover filming of animal welfare breaches in some slaughterhouses in the UK, legislation for compulsory CCTV with unrestricted access for OVs is being introduced in England from May 2018.