News animal welfare
NVWA closes Gosschalk after new violations
The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has closed Exportslachterij Gosschalk with immediate effect, after discovering new animal welfare violations in recent days.
On Monday, RTL released images showing pigs and cows being mistreated. McDonald's immediately stopped purchasing meat from the slaughterhouse. The slaughterhouse approval of the slaughterhouse is now suspended. This means that the company has to stop the slaughter process for the time being. The certificates of competence are also revoked from the slaughterhouse employees who have committed a serious animal welfare violation.
New facts
In recent days, the NVWA has identified new animal welfare violations based on the on-site surveillance and the images received from Pigs in Distress. "These new facts, together with the feeling in society about the animal suffering that was visible in the images shown, are reason for the NVWA to suspend the slaughter process for the time being," the NVWA said in a message. Other activities of the company that do not involve working with live animals can continue.
The slaughterhouse must now first draw up a thorough plan of action on how to guarantee animal welfare and what an acceptable slaughter speed is. Based on this, the NVWA assesses whether the company can guarantee animal welfare in the future.
Criminal investigation
There is also a criminal investigation into Export Slaughterhouse Gosschalk. This is carried out by the NVWA's Intelligence and Investigation Service, in close consultation with the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Public Prosecution Service.
Linda van Eekeres
© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.