And one should really wish a happy Ramadan!!? The case of the Mezbaha halal slaughterhouse in Hürth, which has since been closed by the veterinary office, shows the unbelievably appalling relationship our cultural enrichment has with four-legged animals: Cattle were stabbed in the eyes with pitchforks and dozens of illegal slaughters were carried out.
Completely without stunning, because Allah wants it that way. But even ambitious animal rights activists found it too bloody for their taste in Hürth (near Cologne): eyewitnesses described the blood-soaked slaughter as the cruellest thing they had ever seen. Now those responsible must reckon with further consequences.
“The conditions in the enterprise resemble a horror film,” says Jan Pfeifer, Chairman of the Board of the German Animal Welfare Office. And: “The conditions can hardly be put into words. It is certainly one of the worst things I have ever seen!” Animals are treated like dirt, tortured, beaten for no reason and systematically abused.
Pfeifer described the martyrdom of the maltreated creatures as “hellish agonies” purely and simply: Cattle were fixed in the killing box for over 30 minutes, for example, and the slaughtering with the bolt gun was carried out in a highly amateurish manner. Desperate death struggles were reported that went beyond the cruel, because anaesthetised throat cut.
Other animals have to watch the executions and endure fear of death or were dragged into the slaughter room by their tails. Especially the stunning without anaesthesia, which is basically forbidden, was repeatedly accused. A Mezbaha employee also peed on a holding area for animals, and in the period between Christmas and New Year 2022/23 alone, 13 stunningless illegal slaughters were carried out.
There were deliveries of sheep and cattle without the required live inspection. This means that the prior check by the veterinarian was simply omitted, so-called ” illegal slaughtering” took place. The total number of illegal slaughters at the Mezhaba farm was 15 per cent.
The way to the company is not even signposted, and the company building can only be reached via an unpaved road. In the meantime, several criminal charges have been filed and investigations are underway. Secretly made film and photo recordings drew the attention of the authorities to the inconceivable abuses.
In the meantime, about 15 such slaughterhouses that had attracted attention because of mistreatment and brutal butchery have been closed down. Among others, in Brühl, not far from Hürth, in Ludwigsburg near Stuttgart or Selm (Unna district), where hundreds of cattle were slaughtered without anaesthesia. Pfeifer confirmed that controls generally no longer have any effect and that such enterprises must be closed down for good.
I see pigs in this video, so how can they be halal butchers?