Russian animal rights groups have written to the agriculture minister to demand changes to the new veterinary standards that would enable cruel killing of animals, particularly those used in the dairy business.
On September 1, 2022, new regulations concerning cattle slaughter went into effect, one of which required that slaughter be performed using “humane procedures.” Humane procedures, as defined in the original version of the regulations, specifically exclude those that place unnecessary emotional or physical strain on the animals. As a result of some last-minute changes, however, this has been taken out. The Ministry claimed this action was taken to “lower costs enterprises have to face.”
Clarification
In an appeal to the Ministry, Voice for Animals argued that “the existing guidelines, in theory, do not offer in practise a more humane treatment of animals during slaughter and require clarification,” noting that, in particular markets, this might improve product quality.
“It is still not apparent what criteria should be used to determine if a certain technique of killing is humane or stressful. They stated that this meant that farmers may still kill animals “at their discretion,” regardless of how much pain the animals were in.
The animal rights group recommended including specific language in the regulations to guarantee that “the animal totally loses awareness and sensibility at the beginning of the slaughter procedure and remains unconscious until death” during the slaughter process.
The petitioners stated that the Animal Welfare Association had approved their plan.
The Russian consumer of today is conscious of the impact of their spending. They are becoming increasingly conscientious about the living and killing circumstances of farm animals while making purchases of animal-derived items. Yulia Trefilova, PhD, head of the Animal Welfare Association’s government relations section, stated that the livestock business should take a more responsible approach to ensuring animal welfare, incorporating it into the agricultural policy of our country.
Veterinarian and group president in Russia, Sergey Sereda, says animals are frequently mistreated. As Sereda put it, “it’s simpler for people to employ inexpensive but painful ways than to spend more.”
