Mandatory training for all poultry trailer drivers should be required as it is in the United Kingdom.
Certification would include training in proper methods of euthanasia for birds found to be injured
or down during transport.
Poultry must no longer be live-hung. Given the size of many of these birds, it is simply
unacceptable to submit them to such unnecessary suffering, pain and pressure on their joints.
Because of the routinely rough handling (due to the large numbers of birds that must be
processed in a limited time), far too many birds are experiencing the severe pain of forced
amputation. In the randomly selected 165 seconds of recording of the live-hanging area at
Lilydale in Abbotsford, BC, 11 amputated limbs were counted. This contravenes the Humane
Slaughter Act.
Electrified stunning must be replaced with controlled-atmosphere killing using inert gases
(nitrogen and argon). The continued use of the electrified stun bath is unhygienic, inhumane
and has implications for the workers' health. It is simply no longer acceptable.
CFIA inspectors and veterinarians stationed inside slaughter facilities must be given the
authority to speak out when regulations are violated, animals are abused or food safety is at
risk. More inspectors are needed to ensure ante-mortem inspections, oversight of animal
unloading, and downers are humanely killed onboard, as the law requires.
During and after cases of tainted meat and infectious disease outbreaks, there must be no
media blackout but rather a full and transparent public inquiry. This applies to the current
listeria crisis in Canada. Anything less will simply foster an environment of more human health
crises.