In developed countries animal protectionists have generated much debate over whether or not animals should be slaughtered for food. In less developed countries, however, the debate must focus first on how animals are slaughtered.
FAO/HSI Joint Programs
Since the mid-1990s, HSI has worked increasingly closely with the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to introduce techniques and equipment for humane transport, handling, and slaughter of food animals in developing areas. We have produced a highly-acclaimed poster and co-produced a video and booklet entitled Guidelines for Humane Handling, Transport and Slaughter of Livestock for global distribution and use in FAO training workshops.
Our information stresses the economic advantages of adopting humane handling techniques that result in fewer economic losses due to bruising of the meat and hide and injuries to personnel. HSI commissioned a special report detailing the handling of livestock during transport and slaughter in Peru to document these advantages.
In December 2003, HSI and the FAO co-hosted a meeting in Santiago, Chile to bring together scientific and academic experts from around the world. This working group drafted a blueprint of livestock industry best practices in the transport, handling, and slaughter of food animals. The blueprint will be introduced by HSI and FAO to appropriate government departments in developing countries worldwide. For more information on the blueprint, see the FAO press release (in English and Spanish).
HSI is currently helping to sponsor four-week training courses for 60 individuals from 20 Asian/Pacific countries. Among other things, the training addresses the humane treatment of slaughter animals. Those who participate in these courses return to their home countries to act as trainers, to disseminate their knowledge and experience to a much broader audience. For this purpose, they are being provided with training materials, including the HSI/FAO booklet on humane treatment of slaughter animals.
Previous HSI/FAO cooperative initiatives include an Andean Region Humane Slaughter workshop in Lima, Peru in 2002, an HSI-funded FAO workshop at the Can Tho slaughter facility in the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam in 2001, and a workshop at the Research Institute for the Food Industry in Havana, Cuba in 2000 attended by representatives from Cuba and six other Central American and Caribbean countries.
Other Initiatives
HSI's most ambitious current humane slaughter initiative is a three-year (2003–05) program to transform handling and slaughter practices in Bali and Java, Indonesia. It is designed as a model for other developing nations. The program will provide comprehensive training in humane slaughter and farm animal welfare to all levels of both the commercial and traditional slaughter industry, as well as feed into the veterinary undergraduate curriculum, the State Veterinary Service, and government agencies. Our partner in this program is HSI Shelter & Advocacy Partner, Yudisthira (the Bali Street Dog Foundation), a highly-respected, effective animal protection organization based in Denpassar. The training is being carried out by the Animal Welfare Team of the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.
The year 2004 saw the completion of a series of HSI-sponsored, five-day training sessions in Nepal based on the HSI/FAO Guidelines booklet, which was translated into Nepalese for this purpose. The workshops were presented under the direction of the National Zoonosis and Food Hygiene Research Centre in Katmandu to government officials and slaughterhouse workers in all of the five major development centers of the country. These sessions were developed following the success of two local training sessions sponsored by HSI in 2002 to help ensure enforcement of Nepal's new Slaughterhouse and Meat Inspection Act.
HSI, the World Society for the Protection of Animals, and the Uganda SPCA have been working together since 2002 to introduce more humane handling methods at a local slaughter facility in Kampala, Uganda. In early 2004, a strategic action plan was developed to bring together interested parties, including representatives from the Kampala City Council, the Uganda veterinary association, the Ministry of Agriculture, abattoir workers and others to move forward the introduction and implementation of humane techniques and equipment.
