Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

Regulations 9(b), 10(b) and 14(a)

SCHEDULE 4 Restraint of Animals before Stunning, Slaughter or Killing

1.  In this Schedule “animal” means any soliped, ruminant, pig, rabbit or bird.

2.  No person shall stun, slaughter or kill, or cause or permit to be stunned, slaughtered or killed, any animal without restraining it in an appropriate manner in such a way as to spare it any avoidable pain, suffering, agitation, injury or contusions.

3.  Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph 2, no person shall—

(a) in any slaughterhouse, stun, or cause or permit to be stunned, any adult bovine animal, unless at the time it is stunned it is confined in a stunning pen or in a restraining pen which (in either case) is in good working order;

(b) in any knacker’s yard, stun, or cause or permit to be stunned, any adult bovine animal, unless at the time it is stunned it is either confined in a stunning pen which is in good working order or its head is securely fastened in such a position as to enable it to be stunned without the infliction of avoidable excitement, pain or suffering; or

(c) slaughter, or cause or permit to be slaughtered, by a religious method any bovine animal, as defined in paragraph 1(b)(ii) of Schedule 12, which is not stunned, or stunned and pithed, before slaughter unless that animal is restrained in accordance with paragraph 3 of Schedule 12.

4.  No person shall—

(a) place, or cause or permit to be placed, any adult bovine animal in a stunning pen; or

(b) fasten, or cause or permit to be fastened, the head of any adult bovine animal,

unless the person who is to stun the animal is ready to do so as soon as the animal is placed in the stunning pen or its head is fastened.

5.  No person shall tie, or cause or permit to be tied, the legs of any animal.

6.—(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2), no person shall suspend, or cause or permit to be suspended, any animal before stunning or killing.

(2) The prohibition in sub-paragraph (1) shall not apply in the case of birds which may be suspended for stunning or killing provided that—

(a) no bird is suspended in such a manner as to cause it avoidable pain or suffering;

(b) appropriate measures are taken to ensure that, at the point of being stunned or killed, the bird is in a sufficiently relaxed state for stunning or killing to be carried out effectively and without undue delay; and

(c) no bird is suspended for more than 6 minutes in the case of a turkey or 3 minutes in other cases before being stunned or killed.

(3) For the purposes of this paragraph, any animal which is held in a restraint system is not regarded as being suspended.

7.  The occupier of a slaughterhouse or knacker’s yard and any person engaged in the stunning or killing of any animal shall ensure that any animal which is to be stunned or killed by mechanical or electrical means applied to the head is presented in such a position that the equipment can be applied and operated easily, accurately and for the appropriate time.

8.  No person shall use, or cause or permit to be used, any electrical stunning or killing equipment or any other instrument which applies an electric current to animals—

(a) as a means of restraining any animal;

(b) as a means of immobilising any animal; or

(c) except in accordance with paragraph 11 of Schedule 3, as a means of making any animal move.

9.—(1) No person shall operate, or cause or permit to be operated, any shackle line unless—

(a) each bird suspended from it is kept clear of any object which may cause it avoidable excitement, pain or suffering, including when its wings are outstretched, until it is stunned;

(b) it is possible to relieve any avoidable excitement, pain or suffering which a bird suspended from a shackle appears to be suffering or to remove such a bird from the shackle; and

(c) the speed at which the shackle line is operated is such that any act or operation intended to be performed in relation to, or on, any bird suspended from it can be performed without undue haste and with proper regard for the welfare of the bird.

(2) No person shall, in connection with the slaughter or killing of any bird, use, or cause or permit to be used, any shackle line, machine or other equipment unless—

(a) there is ready access to any such equipment used on live birds and its controls; and

(b) except in an emergency to relieve suffering, it is used in connection with the slaughter or killing of birds of the type, size and weight for which it was designed.