The Welfare of Animals in Abattoirs

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:55 pm on 15 December 2021.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 2:55, 15 December 2021

Thank you. On the possibility of compulsory CCTV, I've never ruled it out. I always thought it was something that we would bring in if the voluntary scheme didn't work in the way that we wanted it to. But I really wanted to work, and I want to continue to work, with slaughterhouse operators to ensure that we do get CCTV in all of the slaughterhouses. There are 24 slaughterhouses in Wales. Fourteen have CCTV installed, and 10 have no CCTV. All of the large slaughterhouses have it, so the smaller ones—. I visited a couple of the smaller ones and, I have to say, they're not very keen on having compulsory CCTV. I think they think because they're small you can see everything that's going on from one position, and obviously vets are there throughout the killing of animals. So, it is about working, I think, in a supportive relationship with our slaughterhouses to ensure that we do bring it in. As I said in my tabled answer to you, our programme for government does commit to requiring CCTV in all slaughterhouses during this five-year term of government.