Northern Ireland based poultry meat firm, Moy Park, has pleaded guilty to failing to comply with animal welfare laws at a court in Lincoln, U.K.
The case involved four counts of non-compliance with the EU Welfare of Animals at Time of Killing regulations, reports Lincolnshire Live.
“We consider it our moral duty to care responsibly for our birds and these incidents, which were a result of a mechanical malfunction and a breakdown in procedures, are not acceptable to us,” said a Moy Park spokesperson. “Each incident was thoroughly investigated and appropriate measures have been taken and are constantly monitored, including mechanical hardware and software improvements.
“As an additional response we have also introduced new procedures and training for employees. The automated systems we have invested in are widely recognized as delivering significantly higher animal welfare benefits than standard manual systems.”
“It is of course relevant that these were not willful wrongdoings,” said QC David Travers, mitigating for Moy Park Limited. “We want to say that the level of suffering was brief.”
For not complying with its own operating standards, magistrates issued Moy Park with a fine of GBP118,520 (US$154,000). In addition, the firm was ordered to pay GBP33,500 (US$43,400) for the offences involving the death of a number of birds, and GBP16,750 (US$21,700) for failing to supply the birds for post-mortem investigation.
Animal rights campaigners protested outside the court.
“I think they should have gone further,” said one. “We think conditions are not good enough and we are against animals being slaughtered full-stop.”
Health and Safety award
Moy Park has become the overall Food and Drink Health & Safety Award winner for a third year in a row in recognition of its outstanding health and safety performance at the 2017 Occupational Health and Safety Awards by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).
The awards recognize businesses that demonstrate leading accident prevention practices and a commitment to raising the standards of health and safety management.
Moy Park also won a second Gold Fleet Safety Award for its focus on managing road and traffic risk.
At the end of June, JBS announced its intention to sell Moy Park.
