Statement on Bowood Slaughterhouse case

A district judge ruled on 9 September that the Bowood Slaughterhouse case has run out of time. The court was told that there was a delay of almost a year between the Food Standards Agency receiving footage filmed by Animal Aid and submitting this to the Crown Prosecution Service. The Crown Prosecution Service is expected to appeal the decision.

Says Andrew Tyler, Director of Animal Aid:

‘It is truly disgraceful that those responsible for the behaviour we filmed at Bowood Slaughterhouse could now escape having to answer for their actions in court. The vulnerable animals being slaughtered at Bowood rely on a regulatory system to provide proper protection.

‘The Food Standards Agency is tasked with that regulatory role but they failed to measure up to their responsibility. It was left to Animal Aid to expose what was going on in that killing factory through covert filming. And when we promptly passed on our evidence to the FSA, there was a delay of almost a year before their dossier was delivered to the Crown Prosecution Service.

‘There is now the truly dreadful prospect that this delay will lead to the collapse of the cases against the accused individuals. That may be what the letter of the law requires but where is the justice? And where were the FSA when the animals needed them?’

• Read the article on the Northern Echo
• Read more about our campaign work on animal slaughter