Cameras in Slaughterhouses

The UK’s Food Standards Agency announced on Monday that in the next six months, it plans to install closed-circuit television cameras in the country’s slaughterhouses. The move follows two investigations, one during a European Union veterinary inspection and the other from Animal Aid, exposing poor hygiene standards and animal mistreatment in UK meat-cutting plants. While the agency cannot force plants to install the cameras, CEO Tim Smith hopes a slaughterhouse’s refusal to comply will serve as a warning that operators have something to hide, and encourage distributors to buy from plants that make their methods transparent.