Danish farmers have the right to slaughter animals on the farm
Denmark will allow farmers that do not want to transport their animals to a slaughterhouse to kill it on the farm, announced Minister Mogens Jensen. Farmers can establish a suitable area on the farm where an authorized slaughterhouse can kill and bleed the animals before being sent for processing at the slaughterhouse.
"We now have a solution that caters to farmers who want to slaughter on their farm. If, as a farmer, for example, you do not want to transport your animals to a slaughterhouse, then, of course, you must have the opportunity", says Mogens Jensen.
During the summer, the Food Authority clarified that it is not allowed to slaughter in the field and then send the slaughtered animals to a slaughterhouse unless there is an emergency slaughter. The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration has, at the Minister's request, since been working to find alternatives for those farmers who do not want to transport their animals alive to the slaughterhouse.
The minister points out that the slaughterhouse is responsible for ensuring that both animal welfare and hygiene are in order when the farmer chooses farm slaughter. The slaughter will also be subject to control by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration. No actual slaughter area is required of the farmer. It is the responsibility of the slaughterhouse that anesthesia and bleeding are hygienically sound.
"The most important thing for me has been that farmers who want to slaughter their animals on the farm are given the opportunity without compromising on food security," added minister Jensen. The new opportunity was developed in collaboration with industry and interest organizations.
In Denmark is still allowed to slaughter animals outside a slaughterhouse if the animals have suffered an accident and therefore cannot be transported to the slaughterhouse for reasons of animal welfare. It is also possible to slaughter outside the slaughterhouse if the animals are so wild that they risk causing harm to themselves or humans during transport to the slaughterhouse. So-called home slaughter for own households is also allowed.
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