Regulation 27
1. The business operator must ensure that suitable equipment and facilities are available for the purpose of unloading animals from means of transport.
2. The business operator must ensure that—
(a)equipment for unloading animals is of a suitable height and design for that purpose, has non-slip flooring and, if necessary, is provided with lateral protection;
(b)any bridge, ramp or gangway is fitted with sides, railings or some other means of protection to prevent animals falling off it;
(c)any exit and entry ramp has the minimum possible incline; and
(d)all passageways are so constructed as to minimise the risk of injury to an animal and so arranged as to take account of the gregarious tendencies of the animals which use them.
3. The business operator must ensure that—
(a)the premises are equipped with a sufficient number of pens for adequate lairaging of the animals with protection from the effects of adverse weather conditions;
(b)a lairage (other than a field lairage) has—
(i)a floor which minimises the risk of slipping and which does not cause injury to any animal which is in contact with it;
(ii)adequate ventilation to ensure that temperature, air relative humidity and ammonia levels are kept within limits that are not harmful to any animal, taking into account the extremes of temperature and humidity which may be expected;
(iii)where such ventilation is provided other than naturally, a replacement means of maintaining adequate ventilation available for use if the original source of ventilation fails;
(iv)adequate lighting (whether fixed or portable) to enable the animals to be thoroughly inspected at any time;
(v)drinking facilities adequate in number and size for the watering of all animals confined in the lairage, fixed where practicable, and so constructed and placed that they are easily accessible to all the animals, can readily be filled and cannot readily be fouled; and
(vi)an adequate supply of suitable bedding material for all animals kept in the lairage overnight, unless the lairage has a slatted or mesh floor.
4. The business operator must ensure that a field lairage—
(a)if it is without natural shelter or shade and is used during adverse weather conditions, has appropriate protection against such conditions for any animal using it; and
(b)has drinking facilities adequate in number and size for the watering of all animals confined in the lairage, fixed where practicable, and so constructed and placed that they are easily accessible to all the animals, can readily be filled and cannot readily be fouled.
5. No person may use electrodes to stun an animal individually unless the apparatus—
(a)incorporates a device which—
(i)measures the impedance of the load; and
(ii)prevents operation of the apparatus unless a current can be passed which is sufficient to render an animal of the species being stunned unconscious until it is dead;
(b)incorporates an audible or visible device indicating the length of time of its application to an animal; and
(c)is connected to a device indicating the voltage and the current under load, positioned so as to be clearly visible to the operator.
6. No person may stun a pig by exposure to gas unless the gas stunner provided for that purpose, including equipment used for conveying the pig through the gas mixture, is—
(a)designed, constructed and maintained so as to—
(i)avoid injury to the pig; and
(ii)avoid compression of the chest of the pig; and
(b)equipped to—
(i)measure and continuously display the required gas concentration (set out in Table 3 of Chapter I of Annex I); and
(ii)give clearly visible and audible warning signals if the concentration of gas falls below the required level in Table 3 of Chapter I of Annex I.
7. No person may stun poultry by exposure to gas unless the gas stunner provided for that purpose, including any equipment used for conveying poultry through the gas mixture, is—
(a)designed, constructed and maintained so as to avoid injury to the poultry; and
(b)equipped to—
(i)measure and continuously display the required gas concentration (set out in Table 3 of Chapter I of Annex I); and
(ii)give clearly visible and audible warning signals if the concentration of gas falls below the required level in Table 3 of Chapter I of Annex I.
8. The business operator must ensure that—
(a)any shackle line is designed and positioned in such a way that—
(i)any bird suspended on it is kept clear of any obstruction; and
(ii)disturbance is reduced to a minimum;
(b)the whole length of the shackle line up to the point of entry into the scald tank is immediately accessible to any person so that any bird may, if necessary, receive attention; and
(c)there is ready access to any processing equipment used for live birds and to any controls of such equipment.