§ Mr. Phillip Oppenheimasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps are taken to ensure that animals in pain are slaughtered without delay.
§ Mrs. Fenner[pursuant to her reply, 22 April 1985, c. 381]: It is illegal under the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1968 to permit livestock on agricultural land to suffer unnecessary pain; and there are powers under the Protection of Animals Act 1911 for a police constable to order the destruction of an animal which it is cruel to keep alive.
It is a requirement of the Slaughter of Animals (Prevention of Cruelty) Regulations 1958 that any animal 476W which is in pain on arrival or subsequently at a slaughterhouse, knacker's yard or lairage attached to a slaughterhouse should be slaughtered without delay.