Pig abattoir ceases operations amid investigation into 'serious and disturbing' allegations

Warning: This story contains content that may distress some readers. 

A pig abattoir has ceased operations amid a formal investigation into "serious and disturbing allegations" of mistreatment of animals, including one pig having its testicles torn off by machinery.

Key points:

• Footage captured at a Melbourne abattoir shows pigs being struck with paddles, and body parts getting caught in machinery before animals are gassed
• The ABC understands one abattoir ceased operations days after the regulator told it to install CCTV cameras in its gas chambers as a condition of its licence
• Australian Pork Limited said carbon dioxide stunning was "global best practice" but was unable to comment on the animal welfare investigations

Earlier this year, animal activists broke into abattoirs to film pigs being stunned using carbon dioxide gas — a process that is legal and widespread.

In March, 7.30 aired some of the never-before-seen footage, sparking calls for an urgent investigation and greater scrutiny of the pork industry.

When lawyers for Animals Australia later reviewed the hours of footage the activists had captured, they discovered multiple examples of what they allege is animal cruelty at Melbourne abattoir Australian Food Group (AFG). 

Legal counsel Shatha Hamade said she believed it was not just the gas that caused suffering.

"We were actually quite shocked and disturbed by the footage because what we realised was that the entire process of pig gassing, the entire operation is in and of itself cruel," she said.

The footage captured at the Australian Food Group abattoir in Laverton, in Melbourne's south-west, shows pigs being repeatedly struck with paddles, prodded and kicked as they are loaded into steel cages called "gondolas".

On several occasions, pigs' legs or feet appear to be stuck in the machinery and in one scene, an animal's testicles are torn off as the gondola descends towards the gas.

"What is so horrific about this is not just the fact his [testicles have] been ripped off but that it is just before going down into the dip, into the gas chamber to be gassed," Ms Hamade said.

In Victoria, animals used in farming and meat production are exempt from the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act as long as their use complies with relevant codes and standards.

Ms Hamade alleges that the footage shows the abattoir has breached the Australian standard for the hygienic production and transportation of meat products and should therefore be investigated for any potential contraventions of animal cruelty laws.

"What this Australian standard says in terms of animal welfare compliance is that the animals must be handled in a way and the equipment must be used in a way that minimises the risk of injury, pain and suffering to the animals," she said.

Animals Australia filed a complaint with regulator PrimeSafe about the footage taken at AFG which sparked an immediate investigation into what it described as "serious and disturbing allegations" of mistreatment of animals.

In a statement, PrimeSafe told 7.30 the comprehensive investigation would seek to determine whether anyone had breached the terms of a licence or otherwise broken the law.

The ABC understands the regulator last week told the abattoir to install CCTV cameras in its CO2 gas chambers as a condition of its licence.

Woolworths has now confirmed to 7.30 that Australian Food Group told the supermarket giant it ceased operating as an abattoir four days ago.

In a statement, Woolworths said it took animal welfare seriously and was concerned by these allegations, which should be referred to the regulators for formal investigation.

Australian Food Group declined to comment.

Abattoir that supplies Coles and Woolworths subject to separate complaint

Animals Australia also filed a complaint to the federal agricultural department in relation to Diamond Valley Pork — another abattoir in Laverton which supplies supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths.

This complaint relates to allegations surrounding multiple instances of pigs being forced to walk over unconscious or dead animals as they are loaded into the gondola.

Shatha Hamade said this was explicitly against the industry's own standards.

"The Australian Meat Industry Council has its own animal welfare standard that it uses as a matter of policy in these abattoirs," she said.

"Now, that particular animal welfare standard specifically says that the practice of allowing animals to walk and trample over one another is unacceptable."

Diamond Valley Pork and its owner JBS declined to comment, as did industry body the Australian Meat Industry Council.

Australian Pork Limited again declined 7.30's requests for an interview, saying: "We care about our pigs and share the community's concern for their welfare … [which is] why we adhere to the global best practice of CO2 stunning."

Last month, CEO Margo Andrae told a federal parliamentary committee that CO2 was the most humane way to stun pigs.

"They literally go to sleep. It's not a hands-on process," she said.

"They literally go into a gondola a few at a time, and then the CO2 comes out and over a very micro amount of time they go to sleep."

"It's quite a best-practice, scientific approach to what we do."

Calls for pork industry to fund research into alternatives for CO2 stunning

Over the past 10 years, industry body Australian Pork Limited has received over $50 million in government funding to invest in research and development initiatives.

Jed Goodfellow from the Australian Alliance for Animals said none of that funding has been invested in finding alternatives to CO2 stunning of pigs.

"They're not investing that public funding in research that is going to be contributing to the public interest in improving animal welfare," he said.

He said there needed to be greater oversight of how that public funding was spent.

"The Australian government administers these public funding arrangements to the livestock Research and Development Corporations," he said.

"And they should be tying that public funding to investment in addressing insidious issues, like the use of CO2 stunning for pigs, to improve animal welfare, and to ensure that public money is actually being spent on initiatives that are going to benefit the public."

In a statement, Australian Pork Limited said: "We continue to invest in research and development into animal welfare, be it through design of infrastructure or animal handling."

Dr Goodfellow believes another way to ensure greater transparency would be to install cameras in abattoirs.

"The UK has implemented mandatory CCTV and it's very much time the Australian government required that for abattoirs in Australia as well, so that we can identify issues like this much earlier on," he said.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt told 7.30 in a statement he was open to alternatives to carbon dioxide stunning being considered. 

"Our Research and Development Corporations have been looking at these issues for some time, and discussions are currently underway between state and territory governments and the Commonwealth about Animal Welfare standards," he said. 

"The Albanese Government is committed to working with industry to ensure continual improvements to animal welfare practices.

"We want to strengthen Australia's global reputation as a trusted food producer, by establishing an Inspector-General for Animal Welfare as well as providing leadership by convening regular meetings of state and territory agriculture ministers."

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