The National Food Agency has failed to report poor conditions for chickens being transported to the slaughterhouse to local county councils, Swedish Television SVT reports.
The Agency’s veterinarians are supposed to report to the National Food Agency if the conditions for chickens being transported for slaughter are not satisfactory. The veterinarians should also pass along the report to the local county council, but has failed to do so in 16 out of 20 times, according to SVT.
About 80 million chickens are transported to the slaughterhouse every year in Sweden, and the legislation clearly states that the chickens should not suffer and that unsatisfactory conditions have to be reported. Cases where chickens have been squeezed, or freezed, to death, have not been reported to the county councils.
“The legislation is clear. Veterinarians should report this to the local county councils, but apparently we’ve failed to follow up on this. We take this very seriously ,” says Malin Engdahl of the National Food Agency.
Source: Radio Sweden
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