Belgian slaughter scandal deserves some nuance

The horror practices in the Flemish slaughterhouse, which came out last week, deserve some nuance. The activist, from the Dutch organization Animal Rights, held the position of equerry. This means that he was actually responsible for the affairs of the slaughterhouse.  

The activist behind the images let himself be hired as an equerry. The job description of an equerry means that the person in question, together with a team, must ensure that all procedures are carried out according to the rules. 'One of the tasks is to euthanize defective animals. He can do this by euthanizing himself or instructing someone on his team to do that. However, he is responsible at that time," said Thomas De Roover-De Brauwer, CEO of Debra Group, the parent company of the Flemish slaughterhouse.

Despite the fact that the equerry failed in his duties, De Roover-De Brauwer does not want to shirk the responsibility. "The behavior of the equerry does not justify the behavior of the other employees, who were present at the time," said the CEO. He also stated that the internal procedures had not been followed by the employees concerned. That is why the Flemish slaughterhouse chooses not to consider legal action.

The slaughterhouse was officially closed by the Flemish minister, Ben Weyts, when the images became public. However, the slaughterhouse does not agree with this decision and has therefore gone to the Council of State to challenge the closure. According to De Roover-De Brauwer, the Flemish slaughterhouse wants to be active again in the chain as soon as possible.

Incidentally, the slaughterhouse had plans to increase the current 1,5 million slaughters per year by one million. It remains to be seen whether these expansion plans can be realised. The municipal council of Tielt had been against the expansion plans for some time. After seeing the images, the province of West Flanders is also holding off. According to the parties involved, the slaughterhouse must first have the basics in order.

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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