Allegations of inhumane slaughters continue to plague a Melbourne knackery.
Separate investigations have been launched into the organisation's conduct and process as animal liberationists step up their campaign.
Animal activists supplied gruesome pictures of a horse being shot in the paddock and shackled to a small tractor, before being dragged to the shed where it's processed. They claim that the horse was still alive and suffering throughout the ordeal.
“As it was being dragged we could actually hear his leg break and when he's in the shed about to have his throat cut you can see him actually breathing,” said activist Elio Celotto.
Primesafe is the organisation charged with regulating abattoirs and knackeries. It reviewed the footage and cleared the conduct.
“The advice I have is from a veterinarian,” Primesafe's Brian Casey told SBS. “The information on if the animal is dead or alive is inconclusive. That's largely irrelevant. What is absolutely clear is that the animal is unconscious and insensible to pain, and that's our critical issue.”
He says the Primesafe audit relates specifically to processes employed at the facility, and not the ethics of animal treatment
The RSPCA has confirmed it's conducting a separate investigation into specific allegations into cruelty to horses, but at this stage has declined to elaborate. Activists estimate around 40,000 horses are slaughtered in Australia each year.
Despite approving the dragging incident, Primesafe is finalising a report on the knackery's conduct,which identifies some breaches of protocol.
“We've also changed their procedures and they're not to shoot the horse from a distance of more than about a metre.”
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