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In a newly released position paper , the organisations are calling for investments from the industry and national and EU decision makers to find a painless alternative to the practice, which is used in the majority of large EU pig slaughterhouses as it allows for faster operations and more uniform meat quality. By way of an example, Spain, Germany and Denmark, which rank among the top five EU countries for pig production, slaughter between 85 and 95% of pigs with CO2 – which translates into more than 100 million pigs per year.
According to Eurogroup for Animals, high concentration CO2 stunning causes pain and distress in pigs from first exposure to the gas to loss of consciousness, which can take up a minute to occur. Footage of the suffering inflicted on pigs during this stunning procedure released by animal advocacy organisations has sparked outrage in the EU and internationally.
Eurogroup for Animals and its member organisations are calling on the European Commission to revise the Slaughter Regulation to prohibit the use of high-concentration CO2 as a stunning or killing method for pigs from 1 January 2025, with a review in 2023 to verify the availability of commercially viable non-aversive alternatives.
Thursday October 31, 2019/ Eurogroup for Animals/ European Union.
https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org
