§ 2.34 p.m.
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what number of slaughterhouses are not equipped with the stunning pen, and what number are; and what is the percentage of cattle slaughtered in the United Kingdom by the use of this method; and further to what extent the regulations, requiring that animals should not be slaughtered in sight of others, are being complied with.]
THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD (LORD ST. OSWALD)My Lords, in England and Wales about 2,050 slaughterhouses are required to be equipped with stunning pens for adult cattle; of the balance of about 580 premises, some are already so equipped; and the range of compulsion is being steadily extended as Appointed Day Orders are made under the Slaughter of Animals Act, 1958. I estimate that two-thirds of the cattle slaughtered pass through stunning pens. I have no reason to believe that the regulations requiring that animals should not be slaughtered in the sight of others awaiting slaughter, are not being complied with; they apply by now in the great majority of slaughterhouses, and very few animals are now slaughtered in sight of others.
In Scotland, 17 slaughterhouses have stunning pens and 103 have not; but the 17 deal with half the cattle slaughtered. No animals are allowed to be slaughtered in sight of others. The responsibility for these matters in Northern Ireland lies with the Northern Ireland Government, 1234 but I am informed that 12 slaughterhouses have stunning pens and 6 have not. Eighty-seven per cent. of the cattle pass through stunning pens, and the Northern Ireland Government are satisfied that no animals are slaughtered in sight of other animals.
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his reply. Will he agree—I am sure he will—Chat we have a great deal of way to go in England and Wales in the provision of this very humane method of slaughter? May I ask the Government whether they will accept that it would be the will of this House and, as I believe, of the country that greater efforts be made to effect these improvements An slaughterhouses?
LORD ST. OSWALDI am quite sure that the House will -agree, as indeed I do myself. I think that perhaps I was a little over-scrupulous in the figures I gave the noble Lord because I referred to 580 that did not have to have stunning pens on the grounds that Appointed Day Orders had not been made. Of those 580, some already have stunning pens despite the fact that it is not yet obligatory; also, of those 580, 200 will have to have stunning pens by the end of this year—that is, in ten days or so.
§ LORD WILLIAMS OF BARNBURGHMy Lords, are we to understand from the noble Lord's original reply that there are 2,050 slaughterhouses still in existence and being operated?
§ LORD WILLIAMS OF BARNBURGHWill the noble Lord tell us how many were in operation during the course of the war? Was it not somewhere between 700 and 800?
LORD ST. OSWALDIf the noble Lord could persuade himself that that point was within the scope of the Question, I should like to hear his argument.
§ LORD STONHAMBut, my Lords, did the noble Lord not say in his original Answer that there were 2,050 slaughterhouses which had arrangements for stunning?
§ LORD STONHAMBut my noble friend asked a different question. He asked whether 2,050 was the total number of slaughterhouses, and that obviously is not correct. What is the total number?