Greens welcome step forward for animal welfare
Scottish Greens Rural and Island Communities Spokesperson John Finnie MSP has welcomed cross party agreement to mandate the use of CCTV in slaughterhouses hailing it an, “excellent animal welfare provision.”
The Mandatory Use of Closed Circuit Television in Slaughterhouses (Scotland) Regulations 2020 were agreed at a meeting of the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee this morning
These Regulations introduce requirements on operators of slaughterhouses to install and operate a CCTV system in all areas where live animals are present and to retain CCTV footage and associated data for a period of 90 days.
Speaking after the meeting John Finnie, Scottish Greens MSP for Highlands and Islands, and a member of the committee said:
“Scotland has 30 slaughterhouses. The 24 on the mainland who already have some form of CCTV, whilst the 6 on the islands do not, so I’m delighted that this excellent animal welfare provision will be extended across the country.
“I’m pleased that the Minister not only acknowledged my comment that animal welfare would be adversely affected were livestock had to be transported to the mainland to be slaughtered but also confirmed Scottish Government funding will be able for our valuable island operators.
“The Scottish Green Party has long supported this proposal and warmly welcome CCTV becoming compulsory.”