Abattoir shut down

An abattoir in Gippsland has been shut down after allegations of cruelty to pigs was upheld by the state's slaughterhouse regulator.

It leaves up to 20 staff workers out of their jobs. The L.E. Giles abattoir in Trafalgar was ordered to cease all operations after an animal activist saw slaughtermen incorrectly using stunning equipment, using a sledgehammer to kill a pig and allowing a pig to run into the scalding bath.

Footage seen by The Saturday Age shows a slaughtermen driving a stunning prod into pigs' eyes and ears before shocking the animal for up to 10 seconds, then cutting its throat. The stunner is meant to only touch the pig's skin.

Brian Casey, of Victoria's abattoir regulator, PrimeSafe, banned operations after seeing the video on Thursday.

View the full original article at The Age