Press Release: Council adopts Commission proposal improving animal treatment at time of slaughter

Conditions for animals at the time of killing will improve considerably as of January 1, 2013, when a regulation, adopted by the Council on 22 June, 2009, providing for a series of practical measures to ensure animals are humanely treated, enters into force. To simplify existing legislation and bring it into line with food hygiene regulations, the proposal integrates welfare considerations into the design of slaughterhouses and requires the regular monitoring of the efficiency of stunning techniques. Every year, nearly 360 million pigs, sheep, goats and cattle as well as several billion poultry are killed in EU slaughterhouses for their meat. In addition, about 25 million animals are killed for their fur. The control of contagious diseases may also require the culling of thousands to millions of other animals.