The Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995 provides for the Government to issue, where appropriate, codes of practice on the welfare of livestock at slaughter after consultation with interested organisations.

The draft code of practice document incorporates material from previous guidance on this subject and comments raised by stakeholders in response to Defra's first consultation on this document that commenced on 18 October 2002. It also reflects amendments made to WASK in 2003.

The time period between the initial and current consultation has also been significantly longer than Defra had hoped for as a result of competing work priorities. The code has been enlarged to reflect technical, industry and research developments in the field that have occurred during this time and introduced more photographs and diagrams to make it more comprehensive than previous guidance.

Defra would be grateful to receive any comments on the content and layout of the code.

Deadline for comments

In order to give interested parties sufficient time to consider the proposals, Defra are providing a twelve week period for responses. Send any comments to the Animal Welfare at Slaughter team at the address below, or email them to [email protected]. The cut-off period is 29th November 2006.

The consultation process

In line with Defra's policy of openness, at the end of the consultation period copies of the responses they receive may be made publicly available through the:

Defra Information Resource Centre
Lower Ground Floor
Ergon House
17 Smith Square
London SW1P 3JR.

The information they contain may also be published in a summary of responses.

Further Information

To view the consultation letter, click here

To read the consultation document, click here (PDF)

ThePoultrySite News Desk