§ Sir Richard BodyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and Food whether he is satisfied that the practice of paying slaughtermen by piece work is not causing animals to be stunned for less than the obligatory seven seconds.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonThe Slaughterhouses Act 1974 requires that when animals are stunned they must be instantaneously rendered insensible to pain until death supervenes. Minimum periods for effective stunning by electricity are not prescribed by law and will vary according to the equipment employed and the size and species of the animal. At a time when only low frequency stunners were available, a minimum application period of seven seconds was recommended by the Ministry in guidance to local authorities. Some equipment now available is capable of achieving the required effect in two to four seconds.
Local authorities are responsible for enforcing the legislation which must be observed whatever practices are followed in the plant.