Gretna Meatworks
New footage captured in August-September 2023 by Farm Transparency Project shows that, in the seven years since first being exposed for horrific animal cruelty, nothing has changed.
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Formerly known as Gretna Quality Meats. Exposed by Animal Liberation NSW in October 2016. Hidden cameras captured workers hitting and inadequately stunning animals, shooting them with a rifle, and often stunning or killing them in front of each other.
One incident involved a sow who was shot in the head several times with a bolt gun, before workers gave up and went to retrive a rifle, failing to kill her with the first two shots before finally doing so on the third, almost two minutes later while she screamed and writhed in agony.
A "retired" dairy cow with a bloody broken leg was led into the knockbox and left there for roughly 80 minutes before being shot multiple times with the bolt gun. After her throat was cut, it was clear that she was still showing signs of consciousness, leading the workers to shoot her once more with the bolt gun, still failing to render her unconscious as blood poured out of her neck.
Other cows were ineffectively stunned numerous times with the bolt gun after desperately trying to escape the knockbox.
Sheep and goats were packed into two small pens and shot with the bolt gun one at a time in front of each other, the remaining animals growing more terrified with every shot. Some attempted to follow the stunned animals into the kill room - one sheep managed to do so, slipping and stumbling in the blood on the floor as she looked up at the hanging bodies, before being taken out of sight and seemingly killed without stunning.
Pigs were smacked and jabbed with pipes to force them up into the pens where they were stunned and killed in front of each other, flailing and writhing as blood spurted across the walls and floor.
Animal Liberation and RSPCA Tasmania called for the slaughterhouse to be shut down. After a 20-month-long investigation by the Tasmanian government, the slaughterhouse was given the all-clear to continue operating.
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News (15)
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Government accepts taskforce recommendations for abattoirs and will increase monitoring
Monday 11 Nov 2024 by
The government has released the recommendations of a taskforce it set up in the wake of distressing footage of alleged animal cruelty at abattoirs. Read the latest. Read more >
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Tasmanian reforms promise better animal welfare by 2025
Sunday 10 Nov 2024 by
Tasmania adopts 11 of 12 taskforce reforms for better animal welfare in abattoirs by 2025, enhancing humane practices and boosting surveillance. Read more >
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Greens claim the government is "dragging its feet" on a report
Wednesday 17 Apr 2024 by
The state government has held firm against claims that it's "dragging its feet" on a taskforce report into Tasmanian slaughterhouses. Read more >
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Action not happening fast enough six months on from ‘shocking’ slaughterhouse videos: Greens
Tuesday 16 Apr 2024 by
Six months ago, animal activists released ‘disturbing’ videos shot in Tasmanian slaughterhouses — Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff says more action is needed immediately. Read more >
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Liberals sitting on abattoir cruelty taskforce, Greens claim
Saturday 16 Mar 2024 by
Latest on Tasmanian abattoir animal cruelty taskforce findings amid election season. Greens, Liberals clash over reforms. Read more >
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Did Farm Transparency Project Just Help Topple a Government?
Thursday 15 Feb 2024 by
When activists with Farm Transparency Project first walked into the Tasmanian Quality Meats slaughterhouse in the dead of night, they had no idea that the project they were embarking on would be a significant contributing factor in toppling the Tasmanian Liberal government... Read more >
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Tasmania to mandate CCTV in abattoirs to stop animal cruelty
Wednesday 31 Jan 2024 by
Investigation into Tasmania's abattoirs exposed animal abuse allegations. Government creates livestock taskforce and considers new regulations to improve animal welfare. Read more >
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Tasmanian minister puts abattoir industry on notice after 'distressing' video released by activists
Sunday 10 Dec 2023 by
Tasmania's primary industries minister says "nothing is off the table" as the government acts to ensure what she has called distressing images of animal cruelty in a leaked animal rights video does not happen again. Read more >
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Outrage over 'inappropriate' animal cruelty rulings prompt call for system overhaul
Thursday 28 Jun 2018 by
There are calls to overhaul the way animal cruelty offences are investigated and punished in Tasmania after two recent cases caused outrage among animal welfare campaigners. Read more >
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Abattoir at centre of animal cruelty allegations in clear after 20-month investigation
Tuesday 26 Jun 2018 by
A Tasmanian meatworks accused of animal cruelty is cleared after a 20-month investigation, with animal rights campaigners saying they are "disappointed" but "not completely surprised". Read more >
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Abattoir accused of cruelty vows to stay open and fight the charges
Sunday 16 Oct 2016 by
THE owner of a Derwent Valley abattoir depicted in leaked video has rejected RSPCA calls for the facility to close, and confirmed a planned slaughter will go ahead tomorrow. Read more >
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Tasmanian abattoir must close immediately over animal cruelty claims, RSPCA says
Saturday 15 Oct 2016 by
The RSPCA calls for the immediate closure of a Tasmanian abattoir, after an animal welfare group released footage from the abattoir showing what it described as the prolonged and unlawful suffering of pigs, sheep and cows. Read more >
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Tasmanian abattoir investigated over animal cruelty claims
Saturday 15 Oct 2016 by
Tasmanian authorities are investigating allegations of severe animal cruelty at an abattoir in the Derwent valley, north of Hobart. Read more >
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Statement regarding footage from Gretna Meatworks Tasmania
Saturday 15 Oct 2016 by
RSPCA Australia has been provided with access to a series of excerpts from footage taken in September 2016 at the Gretna Meatworks in Tasmania. The footage shows the stunning and slaughter of several cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. The excerpts document a s Read more >
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Tasmanian abattoir investigated over animal cruelty claims
Friday 14 Oct 2016 by
A Tasmanian abattoir defends its operation in the wake of graphic vision released by an animal welfare group, showing what it describes is the prolonged and unlawful suffering of pigs, sheep and cows. Read more >
Media releases by FTP (3)
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Cruelty still rampant at infamous Tasmanian slaughterhouse, seven years on
Tuesday 30 Jan 2024
New footage from Gretna Quality Meats has revealed that animal cruelty is still rife, seven years after the facility was originally exposed by Animal Liberation in 2016. Footage, released by Farm Transparency Project and captured in September 2023, shows pigs, cows and sheep still blinking, thrashing and trying to stand for minutes after their throats had been slit, as well as cows who are shot in the head multiple times before they collapse. A 2016 exposé of the slaughterhouse led to calls for the facility to be shut down, including from the RSPCA. Investigators are now saying that nothing has changed. Gretna Meatworks... Read more >
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Statement in Response to Tasmanian Slaughterhouse Announcement
Thursday 14 Dec 2023
All talk, little action The Tasmanian government has just released their response to our shocking exposé of Tasmanian slaughterhouses, and its far from the decisive action they pledged to take just four days ago. Rather than responding to evidence of systemic animal abuse immediately, the government has announced that the most they can manage is to re-investigate the facilities and form a task force to consider developing new animal welfare guidelines. Given that all five slaughterhouses we investigated were already in breach of existing state and national welfare legislation, we fail to see what developing new ones will manage, except... Read more >
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Major Tasmanian abattoir suspended and four more under investigation after animal advocacy group reveals “systemic animal abuse and regulatory breaches”
Friday 8 Dec 2023
View photos and footage: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14oe6RnPEip5M0CMPALvQECagjPiP1tzQ?usp=drive_link Animal advocacy group Farm Transparency Project has released hidden camera footage from five Tasmanian slaughterhouses, in what they’re calling a comprehensive and damning indictment of the state’s animal welfare regulators. The footage shows the slaughter of sheep, cows, deer, pigs and week-old ‘bobby calves’ from the dairy industry. Many animals are revealed to be killed while fully conscious, including dozens of bobby calves who are captured dying slowly over minutes as they bleed out. Farm Transparency Project is working with... Read more >
