Pavia, 13 June 2024 – “It went as we expected”. The association Being Animals cwho had documented the violence suffered by a 140 cows in a slaughterhouse of the province of Pavia thus commented on the hearing of the trial which was held yesterday in court.
The images collected byessereanimali of the mistreatment in the slaughterhouse in the Pavia area
“The 5 accused were admitted to the test, alternative rite which consists in carrying out socially useful work – said the head of the investigative team ofessereanimali Francesco Ceccarelli – and they will have to carry out socially useful work. In our opinion this is shameful because such bloody and cruel crimes are considered minor crimes and adequate sentences are not imposed.”
The mistreatment had been documented through the use of hidden cameras and for this the activists of Being Animals ended up in trouble. “To add insult to injury – underlines Ceccarelli – because I and the president ofessereanimali Simone Montuschi were statthose reported for violation of private property, illicit interference and defamation. Although the evidence we have collected served to start this process. In conclusion, this result once again confirms the urgency of a reform of the laws on animal welfare, because their recognition as sentient beings also involves the courtroom”.
The process that began last March started from one complaint filed byessereanimali which he documented the violence inflicted on cows dragged by force, pulled with a steel cable tied to the legs or even more sensitive parts such as horns or neck, pushed with a fork or prodded with repeated electric shocks. Some cows are also abandoned on the ground dying for a long period of time and then hung by their legs while still conscious to be killed and slaughtered.
“Already in the past in this plant serious conduct had been documented towards animals – adds the president of the association Simone Montuschi -, following which an investigation was also triggered. Furthermore, this investigation adds to the already numerous investigations that highlight systemic problems also in other slaughterhouses and intensive farms in our country. We can also understand the defense of industry and politics towards Made in Italy, but it is urgent that decision makers address the issue of the reform of Italian livestock farming and animal protection laws, also in light of the promise of a change in the system European legislation which did not exist. We are not exaggerating when we say that images like these, which document violence inflicted on animals by unprepared workers, inadequate slaughter and cruel transport, no longer constitute the isolated case, the bad apple, but are precisely the result of non-existent or inefficient laws”.
