On May 4, the UK Government began enforcing new law requiring all slaughterhouses in England to have CCTV cameras installed, for animal welfare purposes. The authorities say that monitoring of abattoirs will help ensure food safety standards are kept to. Official veterinarians will have unrestricted access to this footage; abattoirs must keep CCTV images for 90 days.
Mark Raine, Managing Director at the distributor CCTVdirect has commented: “The crystal clear images which can now be produced by CCTV cameras has had a massive impact on our current society. The introduction of this new legislation has made it possible to catch criminals who have previously alluded the justice system due to their crimes being hidden. It is incredible to see that the evolution of technology can have such positive impacts on animals and the environment.
“One of our customers contacted us this week to let us know that he has now installed some of our products inside some caves in Devon to help a conservation centre monitor a protected bat species.”
At the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Animal Welfare Minister Lord Gardiner said: “The government shares the public’s high regard for animal welfare and we are proud to have some of the highest standards in the world. Today we welcome the new law which requires mandatory CCTV in all abattoirs in England. We are a nation that cares about animals and these strong measures will ensure all animals are treated with the utmost respect at all stages of life allows us to continue to lead the way to raise the bar in high welfare standards.”
Defra has published guidance for slaughterhouse operators on compliance.
Background: visit https://professionalsecurity.co.uk/news/commercial-security/cctv-for-uk-slaughterhouses/.
