The farmers’ company, the slaughterhouse giant Nortura, is asking the Norwegian Food Safety Authority to come up with several unannounced inspections of pig farmers to uncover animal welfare breaches.
The slaughterhouse giant said only a few days ago that they were good at detecting animal welfare violations, but now they have changed their tone, Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reports.
“For us in the industry, it is important to have a control authority so that we can ensure good animal welfare in the industry. We ask that the Norwegian Food Safety Authority comes (to carry out inspections) more often – and unannounced,” board chair Trine Hasvang Vaag in Nortura noted.
Last week, NRK aired a report on activists who illegally entered animal farms across Norway and uncovered animal welfare violations. The photos that the activists took show, among other things, pigs with open wounds and pigs without tails. Now, Nortura is asking for help to clean up the mess.
Demanding cases
“We want the inspection to be conducted by the authorities, not by activists who break into the barns. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority can carry out unannounced inspections without problems,” Vaag said.
Ingunn Midttun Godal, CEO of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, says demanding cases take up a lot of their time.
“There are cases where we end up in a dilemma. On the one hand, we want to help the farmer take care of his animals and ensure good animal welfare, and on the other hand, if we use the strictest measures, it could end in us taking away the farmer’s livelihood. It is important that we are careful and, at the same time, patient enough.”
According to NRK, Nortura decided to review its animal welfare routines again. At the same time, they demand that the Norwegian Food Safety Authority’s resources be strengthened.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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