§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what his estimate is of the number of abattoirs closed since 1984; and what the effects of these closures are on the average kill and throughput at surviving abattoirs and the average journey time to slaughter of animals. [151873]
§ Ms QuinThe information available relates to England. The numbers of abattoirs in 1984 and 2000, together with the total numbers of animals slaughtered in those years is as follows:
Number of abattoirs1 Slaughtering2 (Thousand) 1984 860 Cattle 32,934 Sheep 11,207 Pigs 12,929 2000 316 Cattle 3,41,476 Sheep 11,485 Pigs 10,645 1Source: Food Standards Agency 2 Source: MAFF Slaughterhouse survey 3 Excludes cattle slaughtered under the OTMS and the Selective Cull 4 Provisional Information on average journey times is not collected.