Animal welfare to improve the conditions for animals can help to solve food crisis

Animal welfare to improve the conditions for animals can help to solve food crisis

Animal welfare to improve the conditions for animals

BEIRUT: Several groups that advocate for animal welfare are hoping to capitalize on the recent food scandal to improve the conditions for animals in Lebanon’s slaughterhouses. Peter Stevenson, chief policy adviser for Compassion in World Farming, an NGO that campaigns to end factory farming, came to Beirut this week to meet with several government officials to push animal welfare onto the agenda for future reform.

Animals Lebanon, an animal welfare NGO, is also hoping the food scandal will encourage government officials to pass a comprehensive animal welfare law that was recently handed to the Cabinet. The law encompasses a wide variety of animal welfare issues, including slaughterhouse regulations.

Health Minister Wael Abu Faour sparked a food scandal earlier this month when he listed the names of several supermarkets and restaurants that he said were selling contaminated products.

The campaign has been ongoing for several weeks now and slaughterhouses have recently come under scrutiny. Ziyad Shbib, the governor of Beirut, recently ordered the temporary closure of the notorious Karantina slaughterhouse so that it could be renovated to meet food safety standards.

Following the closure of Karantina, three slaughterhouses and a chicken farm in the south were also closed temporarily, as well as Tripoli’s main slaughterhouse.

CIWF dispatched Stevenson to Beirut in order to try and see to it that when the slaughterhouses reopen, animal welfare will be taken into consideration.

“What we would say, and I think we’re very backed up by science on this: If you’ve got bad welfare conditions, you’re also going to have bad food safety,” Stevenson told The Daily Star.

CIWF has been campaigning for the closure of the Karantina slaughterhouse for over a year now.

Many of the animals in Karantina are imported from Europe, where they are largely protected under law, whereas in Karantina they are subject to a wide range of abuses.

Untrained slaughtermen routinely hang cattle by their legs from the ceilings and leave them dangling, often over puddles of other animals’ blood, for extended periods of time.

Stevenson argues that practices like this are not only painful for the animal, but also have a negative impact on food safety.

“[Animals are] being dragged through the filthy floor, there’s blood, there’s urine, there’s feces,” Stevenson said. “So the hide of the animal, the skin, is getting utterly contaminated with bacteria.”

With the help of local NGO Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA), CIWF has been able to secure meetings with several notable politicians such Abu Faour, Shbib, Walid Jumblatt and Agricultural Minister Akram Chehayeb.

“It’s been an encouraging couple of days,” Stevenson said of the meetings. “Nobody has said, ‘Oh we don’t care,’ or, ‘Just leave us alone.’”

Stevenson said the challenge now was to do something meaningful going forward.

He made detailed recommendations to government officials based on similar plans that had been implemented in Jordan to reduce the stress experienced by the animals and also make the environment more sanitary.

The issue of ensuring meat is halal could be a complicating factor. It’s questionable whether the current practices are halal, but ensuring best practice in the future is also difficult.

Sheikh Abdul Rahman Akkari has never visited the Karantina slaughterhouse, but he said that in order to for it to be halal, animals must not suffer.

“The animal should be relaxed before slaughter,” he told The Daily Star. “They should not see other dead animals and blood everywhere.”

Stevenson said the best practice would be to stun the animals before slaughtering them but this might cause problems for Muslims.

He explained that while some Muslim scholars had released fatwas allowing this practice, it was still controversial.

But he added that this should not be the focal point now.

“At the moment what’s going on is utter chaos. It’s inefficient, it’s dangerous for the slaughtermen, it’s producing massively unhealthy meat and it’s not halal right now,” he said.

Jason Mier, executive director of Animals Lebanon, is hoping the food scandal will help expedite the passing of a law that Animals Lebanon and the Agriculture Ministry have been working on for three years.

“The food scandal has highlighted the need for this law,” Meir said. “Even the agriculture minister has admitted to us that he’s going to use this as a push to get this approved in the Cabinet.”

The law aims to regulate all issues related to animal welfare and diseases, including pet shops, zoos and animal smuggling.

“Since independence we’ve never made this much progress on animal welfare,” Mier said.

“As long as you have a vertebrate you will be covered under this law.”

With regard to slaughterhouses, Meir said the law would bring Lebanon in line with conventions of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), an 80-year-old animal rights and welfare organization, of which Lebanon is a member.

“[This law states] that you cannot, in any sense, perform acts that cause distress, suffering or torture to animals,” Mier explained, and this would apply to animals inside slaughterhouses.

The law is currently with the Cabinet and will have to be forwarded to Parliament in order to be ratified.

Meir acknowledges that it may take one to two years, but is confident that the law will pass eventually.

“It’s not an easy country to get laws passed, and we know that there’s political difficulties in this,” Mier said.

“It does take time and it takes a lot of effort. If you take those things into consideration then it’s not that disappointing.”
(source: Daily Star)

BEIRUT: Several groups that advocate for animal welfare are hoping to capitalize on the recent food scandal to improve the conditions for animals in Lebanon’s slaughterhouses. Peter Stevenson, chief policy adviser for Compassion in World Farming, an NGO that campaigns to end factory farming, came to Beirut this week to meet with several government officials to push animal welfare onto the agenda for future reform.
Animals Lebanon, an animal welfare NGO, is also hoping the food scandal will encourage government officials to pass a comprehensive animal welfare law that was recently handed to the Cabinet. The law encompasses a wide variety of animal welfare issues, including slaughterhouse regulations.
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour sparked a food scandal earlier this month when he listed the names of several supermarkets and restaurants that he said were selling contaminated products.
The campaign has been ongoing for several weeks now and slaughterhouses have recently come under scrutiny. Ziyad Shbib, the governor of Beirut, recently ordered the temporary closure of the notorious Karantina slaughterhouse so that it could be renovated to meet food safety standards.
Following the closure of Karantina, three slaughterhouses and a chicken farm in the south were also closed temporarily, as well as Tripoli’s main slaughterhouse.
CIWF dispatched Stevenson to Beirut in order to try and see to it that when the slaughterhouses reopen, animal welfare will be taken into consideration.
“What we would say, and I think we’re very backed up by science on this: If you’ve got bad welfare conditions, you’re also going to have bad food safety,” Stevenson told The Daily Star.
CIWF has been campaigning for the closure of the Karantina slaughterhouse for over a year now.
Many of the animals in Karantina are imported from Europe, where they are largely protected under law, whereas in Karantina they are subject to a wide range of abuses.
Untrained slaughtermen routinely hang cattle by their legs from the ceilings and leave them dangling, often over puddles of other animals’ blood, for extended periods of time.
Stevenson argues that practices like this are not only painful for the animal, but also have a negative impact on food safety.
“[Animals are] being dragged through the filthy floor, there’s blood, there’s urine, there’s feces,” Stevenson said. “So the hide of the animal, the skin, is getting utterly contaminated with bacteria.”
With the help of local NGO Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA), CIWF has been able to secure meetings with several notable politicians such Abu Faour, Shbib, Walid Jumblatt and Agricultural Minister Akram Chehayeb.
“It’s been an encouraging couple of days,” Stevenson said of the meetings. “Nobody has said, ‘Oh we don’t care,’ or, ‘Just leave us alone.’”
Stevenson said the challenge now was to do something meaningful going forward.
He made detailed recommendations to government officials based on similar plans that had been implemented in Jordan to reduce the stress experienced by the animals and also make the environment more sanitary.
The issue of ensuring meat is halal could be a complicating factor. It’s questionable whether the current practices are halal, but ensuring best practice in the future is also difficult.
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Akkari has never visited the Karantina slaughterhouse, but he said that in order to for it to be halal, animals must not suffer.
“The animal should be relaxed before slaughter,” he told The Daily Star. “They should not see other dead animals and blood everywhere.”
Stevenson said the best practice would be to stun the animals before slaughtering them but this might cause problems for Muslims.
He explained that while some Muslim scholars had released fatwas allowing this practice, it was still controversial.
But he added that this should not be the focal point now.
“At the moment what’s going on is utter chaos. It’s inefficient, it’s dangerous for the slaughtermen, it’s producing massively unhealthy meat and it’s not halal right now,” he said.
Jason Mier, executive director of Animals Lebanon, is hoping the food scandal will help expedite the passing of a law that Animals Lebanon and the Agriculture Ministry have been working on for three years.
“The food scandal has highlighted the need for this law,” Meir said. “Even the agriculture minister has admitted to us that he’s going to use this as a push to get this approved in the Cabinet.”
The law aims to regulate all issues related to animal welfare and diseases, including pet shops, zoos and animal smuggling.
“Since independence we’ve never made this much progress on animal welfare,” Mier said.
“As long as you have a vertebrate you will be covered under this law.”
With regard to slaughterhouses, Meir said the law would bring Lebanon in line with conventions of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), an 80-year-old animal rights and welfare organization, of which Lebanon is a member.
“[This law states] that you cannot, in any sense, perform acts that cause distress, suffering or torture to animals,” Mier explained, and this would apply to animals inside slaughterhouses.
The law is currently with the Cabinet and will have to be forwarded to Parliament in order to be ratified.
Meir acknowledges that it may take one to two years, but is confident that the law will pass eventually.
“It’s not an easy country to get laws passed, and we know that there’s political difficulties in this,” Mier said.
“It does take time and it takes a lot of effort. If you take those things into consideration then it’s not that disappointing.”
- See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Nov-29/279319-will-food-scandal-lead-to-animal-welfare-law.ashx#sthash.s5lkbVyt.dpuf

BEIRUT: Several groups that advocate for animal welfare are hoping to capitalize on the recent food scandal to improve the conditions for animals in Lebanon’s slaughterhouses. Peter Stevenson, chief policy adviser for Compassion in World Farming, an NGO that campaigns to end factory farming, came to Beirut this week to meet with several government officials to push animal welfare onto the agenda for future reform.
Animals Lebanon, an animal welfare NGO, is also hoping the food scandal will encourage government officials to pass a comprehensive animal welfare law that was recently handed to the Cabinet. The law encompasses a wide variety of animal welfare issues, including slaughterhouse regulations.
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour sparked a food scandal earlier this month when he listed the names of several supermarkets and restaurants that he said were selling contaminated products.
The campaign has been ongoing for several weeks now and slaughterhouses have recently come under scrutiny. Ziyad Shbib, the governor of Beirut, recently ordered the temporary closure of the notorious Karantina slaughterhouse so that it could be renovated to meet food safety standards.
Following the closure of Karantina, three slaughterhouses and a chicken farm in the south were also closed temporarily, as well as Tripoli’s main slaughterhouse.
CIWF dispatched Stevenson to Beirut in order to try and see to it that when the slaughterhouses reopen, animal welfare will be taken into consideration.
“What we would say, and I think we’re very backed up by science on this: If you’ve got bad welfare conditions, you’re also going to have bad food safety,” Stevenson told The Daily Star.
CIWF has been campaigning for the closure of the Karantina slaughterhouse for over a year now.
Many of the animals in Karantina are imported from Europe, where they are largely protected under law, whereas in Karantina they are subject to a wide range of abuses.
Untrained slaughtermen routinely hang cattle by their legs from the ceilings and leave them dangling, often over puddles of other animals’ blood, for extended periods of time.
Stevenson argues that practices like this are not only painful for the animal, but also have a negative impact on food safety.
“[Animals are] being dragged through the filthy floor, there’s blood, there’s urine, there’s feces,” Stevenson said. “So the hide of the animal, the skin, is getting utterly contaminated with bacteria.”
With the help of local NGO Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA), CIWF has been able to secure meetings with several notable politicians such Abu Faour, Shbib, Walid Jumblatt and Agricultural Minister Akram Chehayeb.
“It’s been an encouraging couple of days,” Stevenson said of the meetings. “Nobody has said, ‘Oh we don’t care,’ or, ‘Just leave us alone.’”
Stevenson said the challenge now was to do something meaningful going forward.
He made detailed recommendations to government officials based on similar plans that had been implemented in Jordan to reduce the stress experienced by the animals and also make the environment more sanitary.
The issue of ensuring meat is halal could be a complicating factor. It’s questionable whether the current practices are halal, but ensuring best practice in the future is also difficult.
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Akkari has never visited the Karantina slaughterhouse, but he said that in order to for it to be halal, animals must not suffer.
“The animal should be relaxed before slaughter,” he told The Daily Star. “They should not see other dead animals and blood everywhere.”
Stevenson said the best practice would be to stun the animals before slaughtering them but this might cause problems for Muslims.
He explained that while some Muslim scholars had released fatwas allowing this practice, it was still controversial.
But he added that this should not be the focal point now.
“At the moment what’s going on is utter chaos. It’s inefficient, it’s dangerous for the slaughtermen, it’s producing massively unhealthy meat and it’s not halal right now,” he said.
Jason Mier, executive director of Animals Lebanon, is hoping the food scandal will help expedite the passing of a law that Animals Lebanon and the Agriculture Ministry have been working on for three years.
“The food scandal has highlighted the need for this law,” Meir said. “Even the agriculture minister has admitted to us that he’s going to use this as a push to get this approved in the Cabinet.”
The law aims to regulate all issues related to animal welfare and diseases, including pet shops, zoos and animal smuggling.
“Since independence we’ve never made this much progress on animal welfare,” Mier said.
“As long as you have a vertebrate you will be covered under this law.”
With regard to slaughterhouses, Meir said the law would bring Lebanon in line with conventions of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), an 80-year-old animal rights and welfare organization, of which Lebanon is a member.
“[This law states] that you cannot, in any sense, perform acts that cause distress, suffering or torture to animals,” Mier explained, and this would apply to animals inside slaughterhouses.
The law is currently with the Cabinet and will have to be forwarded to Parliament in order to be ratified.
Meir acknowledges that it may take one to two years, but is confident that the law will pass eventually.
“It’s not an easy country to get laws passed, and we know that there’s political difficulties in this,” Mier said.
“It does take time and it takes a lot of effort. If you take those things into consideration then it’s not that disappointing.”
- See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Nov-29/279319-will-food-scandal-lead-to-animal-welfare-law.ashx#sthash.s5lkbVyt.dpuf

BEIRUT: Several groups that advocate for animal welfare are hoping to capitalize on the recent food scandal to improve the conditions for animals in Lebanon’s slaughterhouses. Peter Stevenson, chief policy adviser for Compassion in World Farming, an NGO that campaigns to end factory farming, came to Beirut this week to meet with several government officials to push animal welfare onto the agenda for future reform.
Animals Lebanon, an animal welfare NGO, is also hoping the food scandal will encourage government officials to pass a comprehensive animal welfare law that was recently handed to the Cabinet. The law encompasses a wide variety of animal welfare issues, including slaughterhouse regulations.
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour sparked a food scandal earlier this month when he listed the names of several supermarkets and restaurants that he said were selling contaminated products.
The campaign has been ongoing for several weeks now and slaughterhouses have recently come under scrutiny. Ziyad Shbib, the governor of Beirut, recently ordered the temporary closure of the notorious Karantina slaughterhouse so that it could be renovated to meet food safety standards.
Following the closure of Karantina, three slaughterhouses and a chicken farm in the south were also closed temporarily, as well as Tripoli’s main slaughterhouse.
CIWF dispatched Stevenson to Beirut in order to try and see to it that when the slaughterhouses reopen, animal welfare will be taken into consideration.
“What we would say, and I think we’re very backed up by science on this: If you’ve got bad welfare conditions, you’re also going to have bad food safety,” Stevenson told The Daily Star.
CIWF has been campaigning for the closure of the Karantina slaughterhouse for over a year now.
Many of the animals in Karantina are imported from Europe, where they are largely protected under law, whereas in Karantina they are subject to a wide range of abuses.
Untrained slaughtermen routinely hang cattle by their legs from the ceilings and leave them dangling, often over puddles of other animals’ blood, for extended periods of time.
Stevenson argues that practices like this are not only painful for the animal, but also have a negative impact on food safety.
“[Animals are] being dragged through the filthy floor, there’s blood, there’s urine, there’s feces,” Stevenson said. “So the hide of the animal, the skin, is getting utterly contaminated with bacteria.”
With the help of local NGO Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA), CIWF has been able to secure meetings with several notable politicians such Abu Faour, Shbib, Walid Jumblatt and Agricultural Minister Akram Chehayeb.
“It’s been an encouraging couple of days,” Stevenson said of the meetings. “Nobody has said, ‘Oh we don’t care,’ or, ‘Just leave us alone.’”
Stevenson said the challenge now was to do something meaningful going forward.
He made detailed recommendations to government officials based on similar plans that had been implemented in Jordan to reduce the stress experienced by the animals and also make the environment more sanitary.
The issue of ensuring meat is halal could be a complicating factor. It’s questionable whether the current practices are halal, but ensuring best practice in the future is also difficult.
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Akkari has never visited the Karantina slaughterhouse, but he said that in order to for it to be halal, animals must not suffer.
“The animal should be relaxed before slaughter,” he told The Daily Star. “They should not see other dead animals and blood everywhere.”
Stevenson said the best practice would be to stun the animals before slaughtering them but this might cause problems for Muslims.
He explained that while some Muslim scholars had released fatwas allowing this practice, it was still controversial.
But he added that this should not be the focal point now.
“At the moment what’s going on is utter chaos. It’s inefficient, it’s dangerous for the slaughtermen, it’s producing massively unhealthy meat and it’s not halal right now,” he said.
Jason Mier, executive director of Animals Lebanon, is hoping the food scandal will help expedite the passing of a law that Animals Lebanon and the Agriculture Ministry have been working on for three years.
“The food scandal has highlighted the need for this law,” Meir said. “Even the agriculture minister has admitted to us that he’s going to use this as a push to get this approved in the Cabinet.”
The law aims to regulate all issues related to animal welfare and diseases, including pet shops, zoos and animal smuggling.
“Since independence we’ve never made this much progress on animal welfare,” Mier said.
“As long as you have a vertebrate you will be covered under this law.”
With regard to slaughterhouses, Meir said the law would bring Lebanon in line with conventions of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), an 80-year-old animal rights and welfare organization, of which Lebanon is a member.
“[This law states] that you cannot, in any sense, perform acts that cause distress, suffering or torture to animals,” Mier explained, and this would apply to animals inside slaughterhouses.
The law is currently with the Cabinet and will have to be forwarded to Parliament in order to be ratified.
Meir acknowledges that it may take one to two years, but is confident that the law will pass eventually.
“It’s not an easy country to get laws passed, and we know that there’s political difficulties in this,” Mier said.
“It does take time and it takes a lot of effort. If you take those things into consideration then it’s not that disappointing.”
- See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Nov-29/279319-will-food-scandal-lead-to-animal-welfare-law.ashx#sthash.s5lkbVyt.dpuf

BEIRUT: Several groups that advocate for animal welfare are hoping to capitalize on the recent food scandal to improve the conditions for animals in Lebanon’s slaughterhouses. Peter Stevenson, chief policy adviser for Compassion in World Farming, an NGO that campaigns to end factory farming, came to Beirut this week to meet with several government officials to push animal welfare onto the agenda for future reform.
Animals Lebanon, an animal welfare NGO, is also hoping the food scandal will encourage government officials to pass a comprehensive animal welfare law that was recently handed to the Cabinet. The law encompasses a wide variety of animal welfare issues, including slaughterhouse regulations.
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour sparked a food scandal earlier this month when he listed the names of several supermarkets and restaurants that he said were selling contaminated products.
The campaign has been ongoing for several weeks now and slaughterhouses have recently come under scrutiny. Ziyad Shbib, the governor of Beirut, recently ordered the temporary closure of the notorious Karantina slaughterhouse so that it could be renovated to meet food safety standards.
Following the closure of Karantina, three slaughterhouses and a chicken farm in the south were also closed temporarily, as well as Tripoli’s main slaughterhouse.
CIWF dispatched Stevenson to Beirut in order to try and see to it that when the slaughterhouses reopen, animal welfare will be taken into consideration.
“What we would say, and I think we’re very backed up by science on this: If you’ve got bad welfare conditions, you’re also going to have bad food safety,” Stevenson told The Daily Star.
CIWF has been campaigning for the closure of the Karantina slaughterhouse for over a year now.
Many of the animals in Karantina are imported from Europe, where they are largely protected under law, whereas in Karantina they are subject to a wide range of abuses.
Untrained slaughtermen routinely hang cattle by their legs from the ceilings and leave them dangling, often over puddles of other animals’ blood, for extended periods of time.
Stevenson argues that practices like this are not only painful for the animal, but also have a negative impact on food safety.
“[Animals are] being dragged through the filthy floor, there’s blood, there’s urine, there’s feces,” Stevenson said. “So the hide of the animal, the skin, is getting utterly contaminated with bacteria.”
With the help of local NGO Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA), CIWF has been able to secure meetings with several notable politicians such Abu Faour, Shbib, Walid Jumblatt and Agricultural Minister Akram Chehayeb.
“It’s been an encouraging couple of days,” Stevenson said of the meetings. “Nobody has said, ‘Oh we don’t care,’ or, ‘Just leave us alone.’”
Stevenson said the challenge now was to do something meaningful going forward.
He made detailed recommendations to government officials based on similar plans that had been implemented in Jordan to reduce the stress experienced by the animals and also make the environment more sanitary.
The issue of ensuring meat is halal could be a complicating factor. It’s questionable whether the current practices are halal, but ensuring best practice in the future is also difficult.
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Akkari has never visited the Karantina slaughterhouse, but he said that in order to for it to be halal, animals must not suffer.
“The animal should be relaxed before slaughter,” he told The Daily Star. “They should not see other dead animals and blood everywhere.”
Stevenson said the best practice would be to stun the animals before slaughtering them but this might cause problems for Muslims.
He explained that while some Muslim scholars had released fatwas allowing this practice, it was still controversial.
But he added that this should not be the focal point now.
“At the moment what’s going on is utter chaos. It’s inefficient, it’s dangerous for the slaughtermen, it’s producing massively unhealthy meat and it’s not halal right now,” he said.
Jason Mier, executive director of Animals Lebanon, is hoping the food scandal will help expedite the passing of a law that Animals Lebanon and the Agriculture Ministry have been working on for three years.
“The food scandal has highlighted the need for this law,” Meir said. “Even the agriculture minister has admitted to us that he’s going to use this as a push to get this approved in the Cabinet.”
The law aims to regulate all issues related to animal welfare and diseases, including pet shops, zoos and animal smuggling.
“Since independence we’ve never made this much progress on animal welfare,” Mier said.
“As long as you have a vertebrate you will be covered under this law.”
With regard to slaughterhouses, Meir said the law would bring Lebanon in line with conventions of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), an 80-year-old animal rights and welfare organization, of which Lebanon is a member.
“[This law states] that you cannot, in any sense, perform acts that cause distress, suffering or torture to animals,” Mier explained, and this would apply to animals inside slaughterhouses.
The law is currently with the Cabinet and will have to be forwarded to Parliament in order to be ratified.
Meir acknowledges that it may take one to two years, but is confident that the law will pass eventually.
“It’s not an easy country to get laws passed, and we know that there’s political difficulties in this,” Mier said.
“It does take time and it takes a lot of effort. If you take those things into consideration then it’s not that disappointing.”
- See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Nov-29/279319-will-food-scandal-lead-to-animal-welfare-law.ashx#sthash.s5lkbVyt.dpuf

BEIRUT: Several groups that advocate for animal welfare are hoping to capitalize on the recent food scandal to improve the conditions for animals in Lebanon’s slaughterhouses. Peter Stevenson, chief policy adviser for Compassion in World Farming, an NGO that campaigns to end factory farming, came to Beirut this week to meet with several government officials to push animal welfare onto the agenda for future reform.
Animals Lebanon, an animal welfare NGO, is also hoping the food scandal will encourage government officials to pass a comprehensive animal welfare law that was recently handed to the Cabinet. The law encompasses a wide variety of animal welfare issues, including slaughterhouse regulations.
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour sparked a food scandal earlier this month when he listed the names of several supermarkets and restaurants that he said were selling contaminated products.
The campaign has been ongoing for several weeks now and slaughterhouses have recently come under scrutiny. Ziyad Shbib, the governor of Beirut, recently ordered the temporary closure of the notorious Karantina slaughterhouse so that it could be renovated to meet food safety standards.
Following the closure of Karantina, three slaughterhouses and a chicken farm in the south were also closed temporarily, as well as Tripoli’s main slaughterhouse.
CIWF dispatched Stevenson to Beirut in order to try and see to it that when the slaughterhouses reopen, animal welfare will be taken into consideration.
“What we would say, and I think we’re very backed up by science on this: If you’ve got bad welfare conditions, you’re also going to have bad food safety,” Stevenson told The Daily Star.
CIWF has been campaigning for the closure of the Karantina slaughterhouse for over a year now.
Many of the animals in Karantina are imported from Europe, where they are largely protected under law, whereas in Karantina they are subject to a wide range of abuses.
Untrained slaughtermen routinely hang cattle by their legs from the ceilings and leave them dangling, often over puddles of other animals’ blood, for extended periods of time.
Stevenson argues that practices like this are not only painful for the animal, but also have a negative impact on food safety.
“[Animals are] being dragged through the filthy floor, there’s blood, there’s urine, there’s feces,” Stevenson said. “So the hide of the animal, the skin, is getting utterly contaminated with bacteria.”
With the help of local NGO Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA), CIWF has been able to secure meetings with several notable politicians such Abu Faour, Shbib, Walid Jumblatt and Agricultural Minister Akram Chehayeb.
“It’s been an encouraging couple of days,” Stevenson said of the meetings. “Nobody has said, ‘Oh we don’t care,’ or, ‘Just leave us alone.’”
Stevenson said the challenge now was to do something meaningful going forward.
He made detailed recommendations to government officials based on similar plans that had been implemented in Jordan to reduce the stress experienced by the animals and also make the environment more sanitary.
The issue of ensuring meat is halal could be a complicating factor. It’s questionable whether the current practices are halal, but ensuring best practice in the future is also difficult.
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Akkari has never visited the Karantina slaughterhouse, but he said that in order to for it to be halal, animals must not suffer.
“The animal should be relaxed before slaughter,” he told The Daily Star. “They should not see other dead animals and blood everywhere.”
Stevenson said the best practice would be to stun the animals before slaughtering them but this might cause problems for Muslims.
He explained that while some Muslim scholars had released fatwas allowing this practice, it was still controversial.
But he added that this should not be the focal point now.
“At the moment what’s going on is utter chaos. It’s inefficient, it’s dangerous for the slaughtermen, it’s producing massively unhealthy meat and it’s not halal right now,” he said.
Jason Mier, executive director of Animals Lebanon, is hoping the food scandal will help expedite the passing of a law that Animals Lebanon and the Agriculture Ministry have been working on for three years.
“The food scandal has highlighted the need for this law,” Meir said. “Even the agriculture minister has admitted to us that he’s going to use this as a push to get this approved in the Cabinet.”
The law aims to regulate all issues related to animal welfare and diseases, including pet shops, zoos and animal smuggling.
“Since independence we’ve never made this much progress on animal welfare,” Mier said.
“As long as you have a vertebrate you will be covered under this law.”
With regard to slaughterhouses, Meir said the law would bring Lebanon in line with conventions of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), an 80-year-old animal rights and welfare organization, of which Lebanon is a member.
“[This law states] that you cannot, in any sense, perform acts that cause distress, suffering or torture to animals,” Mier explained, and this would apply to animals inside slaughterhouses.
The law is currently with the Cabinet and will have to be forwarded to Parliament in order to be ratified.
Meir acknowledges that it may take one to two years, but is confident that the law will pass eventually.
“It’s not an easy country to get laws passed, and we know that there’s political difficulties in this,” Mier said.
“It does take time and it takes a lot of effort. If you take those things into consideration then it’s not that disappointing.”
- See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Nov-29/279319-will-food-scandal-lead-to-animal-welfare-law.ashx#sthash.s5lkbVyt.dpuf

BEIRUT: Several groups that advocate for animal welfare are hoping to capitalize on the recent food scandal to improve the conditions for animals in Lebanon’s slaughterhouses. Peter Stevenson, chief policy adviser for Compassion in World Farming, an NGO that campaigns to end factory farming, came to Beirut this week to meet with several government officials to push animal welfare onto the agenda for future reform.
Animals Lebanon, an animal welfare NGO, is also hoping the food scandal will encourage government officials to pass a comprehensive animal welfare law that was recently handed to the Cabinet. The law encompasses a wide variety of animal welfare issues, including slaughterhouse regulations.
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour sparked a food scandal earlier this month when he listed the names of several supermarkets and restaurants that he said were selling contaminated products.
The campaign has been ongoing for several weeks now and slaughterhouses have recently come under scrutiny. Ziyad Shbib, the governor of Beirut, recently ordered the temporary closure of the notorious Karantina slaughterhouse so that it could be renovated to meet food safety standards.
Following the closure of Karantina, three slaughterhouses and a chicken farm in the south were also closed temporarily, as well as Tripoli’s main slaughterhouse.
CIWF dispatched Stevenson to Beirut in order to try and see to it that when the slaughterhouses reopen, animal welfare will be taken into consideration.
“What we would say, and I think we’re very backed up by science on this: If you’ve got bad welfare conditions, you’re also going to have bad food safety,” Stevenson told The Daily Star.
CIWF has been campaigning for the closure of the Karantina slaughterhouse for over a year now.
Many of the animals in Karantina are imported from Europe, where they are largely protected under law, whereas in Karantina they are subject to a wide range of abuses.
Untrained slaughtermen routinely hang cattle by their legs from the ceilings and leave them dangling, often over puddles of other animals’ blood, for extended periods of time.
Stevenson argues that practices like this are not only painful for the animal, but also have a negative impact on food safety.
“[Animals are] being dragged through the filthy floor, there’s blood, there’s urine, there’s feces,” Stevenson said. “So the hide of the animal, the skin, is getting utterly contaminated with bacteria.”
With the help of local NGO Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA), CIWF has been able to secure meetings with several notable politicians such Abu Faour, Shbib, Walid Jumblatt and Agricultural Minister Akram Chehayeb.
“It’s been an encouraging couple of days,” Stevenson said of the meetings. “Nobody has said, ‘Oh we don’t care,’ or, ‘Just leave us alone.’”
Stevenson said the challenge now was to do something meaningful going forward.
He made detailed recommendations to government officials based on similar plans that had been implemented in Jordan to reduce the stress experienced by the animals and also make the environment more sanitary.
The issue of ensuring meat is halal could be a complicating factor. It’s questionable whether the current practices are halal, but ensuring best practice in the future is also difficult.
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Akkari has never visited the Karantina slaughterhouse, but he said that in order to for it to be halal, animals must not suffer.
“The animal should be relaxed before slaughter,” he told The Daily Star. “They should not see other dead animals and blood everywhere.”
Stevenson said the best practice would be to stun the animals before slaughtering them but this might cause problems for Muslims.
He explained that while some Muslim scholars had released fatwas allowing this practice, it was still controversial.
But he added that this should not be the focal point now.
“At the moment what’s going on is utter chaos. It’s inefficient, it’s dangerous for the slaughtermen, it’s producing massively unhealthy meat and it’s not halal right now,” he said.
Jason Mier, executive director of Animals Lebanon, is hoping the food scandal will help expedite the passing of a law that Animals Lebanon and the Agriculture Ministry have been working on for three years.
“The food scandal has highlighted the need for this law,” Meir said. “Even the agriculture minister has admitted to us that he’s going to use this as a push to get this approved in the Cabinet.”
The law aims to regulate all issues related to animal welfare and diseases, including pet shops, zoos and animal smuggling.
“Since independence we’ve never made this much progress on animal welfare,” Mier said.
“As long as you have a vertebrate you will be covered under this law.”
With regard to slaughterhouses, Meir said the law would bring Lebanon in line with conventions of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), an 80-year-old animal rights and welfare organization, of which Lebanon is a member.
“[This law states] that you cannot, in any sense, perform acts that cause distress, suffering or torture to animals,” Mier explained, and this would apply to animals inside slaughterhouses.
The law is currently with the Cabinet and will have to be forwarded to Parliament in order to be ratified.
Meir acknowledges that it may take one to two years, but is confident that the law will pass eventually.
“It’s not an easy country to get laws passed, and we know that there’s political difficulties in this,” Mier said.
“It does take time and it takes a lot of effort. If you take those things into consideration then it’s not that disappointing.”
- See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Nov-29/279319-will-food-scandal-lead-to-animal-welfare-law.ashx#sthash.s5lkbVyt.dpuf

BEIRUT: Several groups that advocate for animal welfare are hoping to capitalize on the recent food scandal to improve the conditions for animals in Lebanon’s slaughterhouses. Peter Stevenson, chief policy adviser for Compassion in World Farming, an NGO that campaigns to end factory farming, came to Beirut this week to meet with several government officials to push animal welfare onto the agenda for future reform.
Animals Lebanon, an animal welfare NGO, is also hoping the food scandal will encourage government officials to pass a comprehensive animal welfare law that was recently handed to the Cabinet. The law encompasses a wide variety of animal welfare issues, including slaughterhouse regulations.
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour sparked a food scandal earlier this month when he listed the names of several supermarkets and restaurants that he said were selling contaminated products.
The campaign has been ongoing for several weeks now and slaughterhouses have recently come under scrutiny. Ziyad Shbib, the governor of Beirut, recently ordered the temporary closure of the notorious Karantina slaughterhouse so that it could be renovated to meet food safety standards.
Following the closure of Karantina, three slaughterhouses and a chicken farm in the south were also closed temporarily, as well as Tripoli’s main slaughterhouse.
CIWF dispatched Stevenson to Beirut in order to try and see to it that when the slaughterhouses reopen, animal welfare will be taken into consideration.
“What we would say, and I think we’re very backed up by science on this: If you’ve got bad welfare conditions, you’re also going to have bad food safety,” Stevenson told The Daily Star.
CIWF has been campaigning for the closure of the Karantina slaughterhouse for over a year now.
Many of the animals in Karantina are imported from Europe, where they are largely protected under law, whereas in Karantina they are subject to a wide range of abuses.
Untrained slaughtermen routinely hang cattle by their legs from the ceilings and leave them dangling, often over puddles of other animals’ blood, for extended periods of time.
Stevenson argues that practices like this are not only painful for the animal, but also have a negative impact on food safety.
“[Animals are] being dragged through the filthy floor, there’s blood, there’s urine, there’s feces,” Stevenson said. “So the hide of the animal, the skin, is getting utterly contaminated with bacteria.”
With the help of local NGO Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA), CIWF has been able to secure meetings with several notable politicians such Abu Faour, Shbib, Walid Jumblatt and Agricultural Minister Akram Chehayeb.
“It’s been an encouraging couple of days,” Stevenson said of the meetings. “Nobody has said, ‘Oh we don’t care,’ or, ‘Just leave us alone.’”
Stevenson said the challenge now was to do something meaningful going forward.
He made detailed recommendations to government officials based on similar plans that had been implemented in Jordan to reduce the stress experienced by the animals and also make the environment more sanitary.
The issue of ensuring meat is halal could be a complicating factor. It’s questionable whether the current practices are halal, but ensuring best practice in the future is also difficult.
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Akkari has never visited the Karantina slaughterhouse, but he said that in order to for it to be halal, animals must not suffer.
“The animal should be relaxed before slaughter,” he told The Daily Star. “They should not see other dead animals and blood everywhere.”
Stevenson said the best practice would be to stun the animals before slaughtering them but this might cause problems for Muslims.
He explained that while some Muslim scholars had released fatwas allowing this practice, it was still controversial.
But he added that this should not be the focal point now.
“At the moment what’s going on is utter chaos. It’s inefficient, it’s dangerous for the slaughtermen, it’s producing massively unhealthy meat and it’s not halal right now,” he said.
Jason Mier, executive director of Animals Lebanon, is hoping the food scandal will help expedite the passing of a law that Animals Lebanon and the Agriculture Ministry have been working on for three years.
“The food scandal has highlighted the need for this law,” Meir said. “Even the agriculture minister has admitted to us that he’s going to use this as a push to get this approved in the Cabinet.”
The law aims to regulate all issues related to animal welfare and diseases, including pet shops, zoos and animal smuggling.
“Since independence we’ve never made this much progress on animal welfare,” Mier said.
“As long as you have a vertebrate you will be covered under this law.”
With regard to slaughterhouses, Meir said the law would bring Lebanon in line with conventions of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), an 80-year-old animal rights and welfare organization, of which Lebanon is a member.
“[This law states] that you cannot, in any sense, perform acts that cause distress, suffering or torture to animals,” Mier explained, and this would apply to animals inside slaughterhouses.
The law is currently with the Cabinet and will have to be forwarded to Parliament in order to be ratified.
Meir acknowledges that it may take one to two years, but is confident that the law will pass eventually.
“It’s not an easy country to get laws passed, and we know that there’s political difficulties in this,” Mier said.
“It does take time and it takes a lot of effort. If you take those things into consideration then it’s not that disappointing.”
- See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Nov-29/279319-will-food-scandal-lead-to-animal-welfare-law.ashx#sthash.s5lkbVyt.dpuf

BEIRUT: Several groups that advocate for animal welfare are hoping to capitalize on the recent food scandal to improve the conditions for animals in Lebanon’s slaughterhouses. Peter Stevenson, chief policy adviser for Compassion in World Farming, an NGO that campaigns to end factory farming, came to Beirut this week to meet with several government officials to push animal welfare onto the agenda for future reform.
Animals Lebanon, an animal welfare NGO, is also hoping the food scandal will encourage government officials to pass a comprehensive animal welfare law that was recently handed to the Cabinet. The law encompasses a wide variety of animal welfare issues, including slaughterhouse regulations.
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour sparked a food scandal earlier this month when he listed the names of several supermarkets and restaurants that he said were selling contaminated products.
The campaign has been ongoing for several weeks now and slaughterhouses have recently come under scrutiny. Ziyad Shbib, the governor of Beirut, recently ordered the temporary closure of the notorious Karantina slaughterhouse so that it could be renovated to meet food safety standards.
Following the closure of Karantina, three slaughterhouses and a chicken farm in the south were also closed temporarily, as well as Tripoli’s main slaughterhouse.
CIWF dispatched Stevenson to Beirut in order to try and see to it that when the slaughterhouses reopen, animal welfare will be taken into consideration.
“What we would say, and I think we’re very backed up by science on this: If you’ve got bad welfare conditions, you’re also going to have bad food safety,” Stevenson told The Daily Star.
CIWF has been campaigning for the closure of the Karantina slaughterhouse for over a year now.
Many of the animals in Karantina are imported from Europe, where they are largely protected under law, whereas in Karantina they are subject to a wide range of abuses.
Untrained slaughtermen routinely hang cattle by their legs from the ceilings and leave them dangling, often over puddles of other animals’ blood, for extended periods of time.
Stevenson argues that practices like this are not only painful for the animal, but also have a negative impact on food safety.
“[Animals are] being dragged through the filthy floor, there’s blood, there’s urine, there’s feces,” Stevenson said. “So the hide of the animal, the skin, is getting utterly contaminated with bacteria.”
With the help of local NGO Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA), CIWF has been able to secure meetings with several notable politicians such Abu Faour, Shbib, Walid Jumblatt and Agricultural Minister Akram Chehayeb.
“It’s been an encouraging couple of days,” Stevenson said of the meetings. “Nobody has said, ‘Oh we don’t care,’ or, ‘Just leave us alone.’”
Stevenson said the challenge now was to do something meaningful going forward.
He made detailed recommendations to government officials based on similar plans that had been implemented in Jordan to reduce the stress experienced by the animals and also make the environment more sanitary.
The issue of ensuring meat is halal could be a complicating factor. It’s questionable whether the current practices are halal, but ensuring best practice in the future is also difficult.
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Akkari has never visited the Karantina slaughterhouse, but he said that in order to for it to be halal, animals must not suffer.
“The animal should be relaxed before slaughter,” he told The Daily Star. “They should not see other dead animals and blood everywhere.”
Stevenson said the best practice would be to stun the animals before slaughtering them but this might cause problems for Muslims.
He explained that while some Muslim scholars had released fatwas allowing this practice, it was still controversial.
But he added that this should not be the focal point now.
“At the moment what’s going on is utter chaos. It’s inefficient, it’s dangerous for the slaughtermen, it’s producing massively unhealthy meat and it’s not halal right now,” he said.
Jason Mier, executive director of Animals Lebanon, is hoping the food scandal will help expedite the passing of a law that Animals Lebanon and the Agriculture Ministry have been working on for three years.
“The food scandal has highlighted the need for this law,” Meir said. “Even the agriculture minister has admitted to us that he’s going to use this as a push to get this approved in the Cabinet.”
The law aims to regulate all issues related to animal welfare and diseases, including pet shops, zoos and animal smuggling.
“Since independence we’ve never made this much progress on animal welfare,” Mier said.
“As long as you have a vertebrate you will be covered under this law.”
With regard to slaughterhouses, Meir said the law would bring Lebanon in line with conventions of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), an 80-year-old animal rights and welfare organization, of which Lebanon is a member.
“[This law states] that you cannot, in any sense, perform acts that cause distress, suffering or torture to animals,” Mier explained, and this would apply to animals inside slaughterhouses.
The law is currently with the Cabinet and will have to be forwarded to Parliament in order to be ratified.
Meir acknowledges that it may take one to two years, but is confident that the law will pass eventually.
“It’s not an easy country to get laws passed, and we know that there’s political difficulties in this,” Mier said.
“It does take time and it takes a lot of effort. If you take those things into consideration then it’s not that disappointing.”
- See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Nov-29/279319-will-food-scandal-lead-to-animal-welfare-law.ashx#sthash.s5lkbVyt.dpuf

BEIRUT: Several groups that advocate for animal welfare are hoping to capitalize on the recent food scandal to improve the conditions for animals in Lebanon’s slaughterhouses. Peter Stevenson, chief policy adviser for Compassion in World Farming, an NGO that campaigns to end factory farming, came to Beirut this week to meet with several government officials to push animal welfare onto the agenda for future reform.
Animals Lebanon, an animal welfare NGO, is also hoping the food scandal will encourage government officials to pass a comprehensive animal welfare law that was recently handed to the Cabinet. The law encompasses a wide variety of animal welfare issues, including slaughterhouse regulations.
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour sparked a food scandal earlier this month when he listed the names of several supermarkets and restaurants that he said were selling contaminated products.
The campaign has been ongoing for several weeks now and slaughterhouses have recently come under scrutiny. Ziyad Shbib, the governor of Beirut, recently ordered the temporary closure of the notorious Karantina slaughterhouse so that it could be renovated to meet food safety standards.
Following the closure of Karantina, three slaughterhouses and a chicken farm in the south were also closed temporarily, as well as Tripoli’s main slaughterhouse.
CIWF dispatched Stevenson to Beirut in order to try and see to it that when the slaughterhouses reopen, animal welfare will be taken into consideration.
“What we would say, and I think we’re very backed up by science on this: If you’ve got bad welfare conditions, you’re also going to have bad food safety,” Stevenson told The Daily Star.
CIWF has been campaigning for the closure of the Karantina slaughterhouse for over a year now.
Many of the animals in Karantina are imported from Europe, where they are largely protected under law, whereas in Karantina they are subject to a wide range of abuses.
Untrained slaughtermen routinely hang cattle by their legs from the ceilings and leave them dangling, often over puddles of other animals’ blood, for extended periods of time.
Stevenson argues that practices like this are not only painful for the animal, but also have a negative impact on food safety.
“[Animals are] being dragged through the filthy floor, there’s blood, there’s urine, there’s feces,” Stevenson said. “So the hide of the animal, the skin, is getting utterly contaminated with bacteria.”
With the help of local NGO Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA), CIWF has been able to secure meetings with several notable politicians such Abu Faour, Shbib, Walid Jumblatt and Agricultural Minister Akram Chehayeb.
“It’s been an encouraging couple of days,” Stevenson said of the meetings. “Nobody has said, ‘Oh we don’t care,’ or, ‘Just leave us alone.’”
Stevenson said the challenge now was to do something meaningful going forward.
He made detailed recommendations to government officials based on similar plans that had been implemented in Jordan to reduce the stress experienced by the animals and also make the environment more sanitary.
The issue of ensuring meat is halal could be a complicating factor. It’s questionable whether the current practices are halal, but ensuring best practice in the future is also difficult.
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Akkari has never visited the Karantina slaughterhouse, but he said that in order to for it to be halal, animals must not suffer.
“The animal should be relaxed before slaughter,” he told The Daily Star. “They should not see other dead animals and blood everywhere.”
Stevenson said the best practice would be to stun the animals before slaughtering them but this might cause problems for Muslims.
He explained that while some Muslim scholars had released fatwas allowing this practice, it was still controversial.
But he added that this should not be the focal point now.
“At the moment what’s going on is utter chaos. It’s inefficient, it’s dangerous for the slaughtermen, it’s producing massively unhealthy meat and it’s not halal right now,” he said.
Jason Mier, executive director of Animals Lebanon, is hoping the food scandal will help expedite the passing of a law that Animals Lebanon and the Agriculture Ministry have been working on for three years.
“The food scandal has highlighted the need for this law,” Meir said. “Even the agriculture minister has admitted to us that he’s going to use this as a push to get this approved in the Cabinet.”
The law aims to regulate all issues related to animal welfare and diseases, including pet shops, zoos and animal smuggling.
“Since independence we’ve never made this much progress on animal welfare,” Mier said.
“As long as you have a vertebrate you will be covered under this law.”
With regard to slaughterhouses, Meir said the law would bring Lebanon in line with conventions of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), an 80-year-old animal rights and welfare organization, of which Lebanon is a member.
“[This law states] that you cannot, in any sense, perform acts that cause distress, suffering or torture to animals,” Mier explained, and this would apply to animals inside slaughterhouses.
The law is currently with the Cabinet and will have to be forwarded to Parliament in order to be ratified.
Meir acknowledges that it may take one to two years, but is confident that the law will pass eventually.
“It’s not an easy country to get laws passed, and we know that there’s political difficulties in this,” Mier said.
“It does take time and it takes a lot of effort. If you take those things into consideration then it’s not that disappointing.”
- See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Nov-29/279319-will-food-scandal-lead-to-animal-welfare-law.ashx#sthash.s5lkbVyt.dpuf

BEIRUT: Several groups that advocate for animal welfare are hoping to capitalize on the recent food scandal to improve the conditions for animals in Lebanon’s slaughterhouses. Peter Stevenson, chief policy adviser for Compassion in World Farming, an NGO that campaigns to end factory farming, came to Beirut this week to meet with several government officials to push animal welfare onto the agenda for future reform.
Animals Lebanon, an animal welfare NGO, is also hoping the food scandal will encourage government officials to pass a comprehensive animal welfare law that was recently handed to the Cabinet. The law encompasses a wide variety of animal welfare issues, including slaughterhouse regulations.
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour sparked a food scandal earlier this month when he listed the names of several supermarkets and restaurants that he said were selling contaminated products.
The campaign has been ongoing for several weeks now and slaughterhouses have recently come under scrutiny. Ziyad Shbib, the governor of Beirut, recently ordered the temporary closure of the notorious Karantina slaughterhouse so that it could be renovated to meet food safety standards.
Following the closure of Karantina, three slaughterhouses and a chicken farm in the south were also closed temporarily, as well as Tripoli’s main slaughterhouse.
CIWF dispatched Stevenson to Beirut in order to try and see to it that when the slaughterhouses reopen, animal welfare will be taken into consideration.
“What we would say, and I think we’re very backed up by science on this: If you’ve got bad welfare conditions, you’re also going to have bad food safety,” Stevenson told The Daily Star.
CIWF has been campaigning for the closure of the Karantina slaughterhouse for over a year now.
Many of the animals in Karantina are imported from Europe, where they are largely protected under law, whereas in Karantina they are subject to a wide range of abuses.
Untrained slaughtermen routinely hang cattle by their legs from the ceilings and leave them dangling, often over puddles of other animals’ blood, for extended periods of time.
Stevenson argues that practices like this are not only painful for the animal, but also have a negative impact on food safety.
“[Animals are] being dragged through the filthy floor, there’s blood, there’s urine, there’s feces,” Stevenson said. “So the hide of the animal, the skin, is getting utterly contaminated with bacteria.”
With the help of local NGO Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA), CIWF has been able to secure meetings with several notable politicians such Abu Faour, Shbib, Walid Jumblatt and Agricultural Minister Akram Chehayeb.
“It’s been an encouraging couple of days,” Stevenson said of the meetings. “Nobody has said, ‘Oh we don’t care,’ or, ‘Just leave us alone.’”
Stevenson said the challenge now was to do something meaningful going forward.
He made detailed recommendations to government officials based on similar plans that had been implemented in Jordan to reduce the stress experienced by the animals and also make the environment more sanitary.
The issue of ensuring meat is halal could be a complicating factor. It’s questionable whether the current practices are halal, but ensuring best practice in the future is also difficult.
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Akkari has never visited the Karantina slaughterhouse, but he said that in order to for it to be halal, animals must not suffer.
“The animal should be relaxed before slaughter,” he told The Daily Star. “They should not see other dead animals and blood everywhere.”
Stevenson said the best practice would be to stun the animals before slaughtering them but this might cause problems for Muslims.
He explained that while some Muslim scholars had released fatwas allowing this practice, it was still controversial.
But he added that this should not be the focal point now.
“At the moment what’s going on is utter chaos. It’s inefficient, it’s dangerous for the slaughtermen, it’s producing massively unhealthy meat and it’s not halal right now,” he said.
Jason Mier, executive director of Animals Lebanon, is hoping the food scandal will help expedite the passing of a law that Animals Lebanon and the Agriculture Ministry have been working on for three years.
“The food scandal has highlighted the need for this law,” Meir said. “Even the agriculture minister has admitted to us that he’s going to use this as a push to get this approved in the Cabinet.”
The law aims to regulate all issues related to animal welfare and diseases, including pet shops, zoos and animal smuggling.
“Since independence we’ve never made this much progress on animal welfare,” Mier said.
“As long as you have a vertebrate you will be covered under this law.”
With regard to slaughterhouses, Meir said the law would bring Lebanon in line with conventions of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), an 80-year-old animal rights and welfare organization, of which Lebanon is a member.
“[This law states] that you cannot, in any sense, perform acts that cause distress, suffering or torture to animals,” Mier explained, and this would apply to animals inside slaughterhouses.
The law is currently with the Cabinet and will have to be forwarded to Parliament in order to be ratified.
Meir acknowledges that it may take one to two years, but is confident that the law will pass eventually.
“It’s not an easy country to get laws passed, and we know that there’s political difficulties in this,” Mier said.
“It does take time and it takes a lot of effort. If you take those things into consideration then it’s not that disappointing.”
- See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Nov-29/279319-will-food-scandal-lead-to-animal-welfare-law.ashx#sthash.s5lkbVyt.dpuf

BEIRUT: Several groups that advocate for animal welfare are hoping to capitalize on the recent food scandal to improve the conditions for animals in Lebanon’s slaughterhouses. Peter Stevenson, chief policy adviser for Compassion in World Farming, an NGO that campaigns to end factory farming, came to Beirut this week to meet with several government officials to push animal welfare onto the agenda for future reform.
Animals Lebanon, an animal welfare NGO, is also hoping the food scandal will encourage government officials to pass a comprehensive animal welfare law that was recently handed to the Cabinet. The law encompasses a wide variety of animal welfare issues, including slaughterhouse regulations.
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour sparked a food scandal earlier this month when he listed the names of several supermarkets and restaurants that he said were selling contaminated products.
The campaign has been ongoing for several weeks now and slaughterhouses have recently come under scrutiny. Ziyad Shbib, the governor of Beirut, recently ordered the temporary closure of the notorious Karantina slaughterhouse so that it could be renovated to meet food safety standards.
Following the closure of Karantina, three slaughterhouses and a chicken farm in the south were also closed temporarily, as well as Tripoli’s main slaughterhouse.
CIWF dispatched Stevenson to Beirut in order to try and see to it that when the slaughterhouses reopen, animal welfare will be taken into consideration.
“What we would say, and I think we’re very backed up by science on this: If you’ve got bad welfare conditions, you’re also going to have bad food safety,” Stevenson told The Daily Star.
CIWF has been campaigning for the closure of the Karantina slaughterhouse for over a year now.
Many of the animals in Karantina are imported from Europe, where they are largely protected under law, whereas in Karantina they are subject to a wide range of abuses.
Untrained slaughtermen routinely hang cattle by their legs from the ceilings and leave them dangling, often over puddles of other animals’ blood, for extended periods of time.
Stevenson argues that practices like this are not only painful for the animal, but also have a negative impact on food safety.
“[Animals are] being dragged through the filthy floor, there’s blood, there’s urine, there’s feces,” Stevenson said. “So the hide of the animal, the skin, is getting utterly contaminated with bacteria.”
With the help of local NGO Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA), CIWF has been able to secure meetings with several notable politicians such Abu Faour, Shbib, Walid Jumblatt and Agricultural Minister Akram Chehayeb.
“It’s been an encouraging couple of days,” Stevenson said of the meetings. “Nobody has said, ‘Oh we don’t care,’ or, ‘Just leave us alone.’”
Stevenson said the challenge now was to do something meaningful going forward.
He made detailed recommendations to government officials based on similar plans that had been implemented in Jordan to reduce the stress experienced by the animals and also make the environment more sanitary.
The issue of ensuring meat is halal could be a complicating factor. It’s questionable whether the current practices are halal, but ensuring best practice in the future is also difficult.
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Akkari has never visited the Karantina slaughterhouse, but he said that in order to for it to be halal, animals must not suffer.
“The animal should be relaxed before slaughter,” he told The Daily Star. “They should not see other dead animals and blood everywhere.”
Stevenson said the best practice would be to stun the animals before slaughtering them but this might cause problems for Muslims.
He explained that while some Muslim scholars had released fatwas allowing this practice, it was still controversial.
But he added that this should not be the focal point now.
“At the moment what’s going on is utter chaos. It’s inefficient, it’s dangerous for the slaughtermen, it’s producing massively unhealthy meat and it’s not halal right now,” he said.
Jason Mier, executive director of Animals Lebanon, is hoping the food scandal will help expedite the passing of a law that Animals Lebanon and the Agriculture Ministry have been working on for three years.
“The food scandal has highlighted the need for this law,” Meir said. “Even the agriculture minister has admitted to us that he’s going to use this as a push to get this approved in the Cabinet.”
The law aims to regulate all issues related to animal welfare and diseases, including pet shops, zoos and animal smuggling.
“Since independence we’ve never made this much progress on animal welfare,” Mier said.
“As long as you have a vertebrate you will be covered under this law.”
With regard to slaughterhouses, Meir said the law would bring Lebanon in line with conventions of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), an 80-year-old animal rights and welfare organization, of which Lebanon is a member.
“[This law states] that you cannot, in any sense, perform acts that cause distress, suffering or torture to animals,” Mier explained, and this would apply to animals inside slaughterhouses.
The law is currently with the Cabinet and will have to be forwarded to Parliament in order to be ratified.
Meir acknowledges that it may take one to two years, but is confident that the law will pass eventually.
“It’s not an easy country to get laws passed, and we know that there’s political difficulties in this,” Mier said.
“It does take time and it takes a lot of effort. If you take those things into consideration then it’s not that disappointing.”
- See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Nov-29/279319-will-food-scandal-lead-to-animal-welfare-law.ashx#sthash.s5lkbVyt.dpuf

BEIRUT: Several groups that advocate for animal welfare are hoping to capitalize on the recent food scandal to improve the conditions for animals in Lebanon’s slaughterhouses. Peter Stevenson, chief policy adviser for Compassion in World Farming, an NGO that campaigns to end factory farming, came to Beirut this week to meet with several government officials to push animal welfare onto the agenda for future reform.
Animals Lebanon, an animal welfare NGO, is also hoping the food scandal will encourage government officials to pass a comprehensive animal welfare law that was recently handed to the Cabinet. The law encompasses a wide variety of animal welfare issues, including slaughterhouse regulations.
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour sparked a food scandal earlier this month when he listed the names of several supermarkets and restaurants that he said were selling contaminated products.
The campaign has been ongoing for several weeks now and slaughterhouses have recently come under scrutiny. Ziyad Shbib, the governor of Beirut, recently ordered the temporary closure of the notorious Karantina slaughterhouse so that it could be renovated to meet food safety standards.
Following the closure of Karantina, three slaughterhouses and a chicken farm in the south were also closed temporarily, as well as Tripoli’s main slaughterhouse.
CIWF dispatched Stevenson to Beirut in order to try and see to it that when the slaughterhouses reopen, animal welfare will be taken into consideration.
“What we would say, and I think we’re very backed up by science on this: If you’ve got bad welfare conditions, you’re also going to have bad food safety,” Stevenson told The Daily Star.
CIWF has been campaigning for the closure of the Karantina slaughterhouse for over a year now.
Many of the animals in Karantina are imported from Europe, where they are largely protected under law, whereas in Karantina they are subject to a wide range of abuses.
Untrained slaughtermen routinely hang cattle by their legs from the ceilings and leave them dangling, often over puddles of other animals’ blood, for extended periods of time.
Stevenson argues that practices like this are not only painful for the animal, but also have a negative impact on food safety.
“[Animals are] being dragged through the filthy floor, there’s blood, there’s urine, there’s feces,” Stevenson said. “So the hide of the animal, the skin, is getting utterly contaminated with bacteria.”
With the help of local NGO Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA), CIWF has been able to secure meetings with several notable politicians such Abu Faour, Shbib, Walid Jumblatt and Agricultural Minister Akram Chehayeb.
“It’s been an encouraging couple of days,” Stevenson said of the meetings. “Nobody has said, ‘Oh we don’t care,’ or, ‘Just leave us alone.’”
Stevenson said the challenge now was to do something meaningful going forward.
He made detailed recommendations to government officials based on similar plans that had been implemented in Jordan to reduce the stress experienced by the animals and also make the environment more sanitary.
The issue of ensuring meat is halal could be a complicating factor. It’s questionable whether the current practices are halal, but ensuring best practice in the future is also difficult.
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Akkari has never visited the Karantina slaughterhouse, but he said that in order to for it to be halal, animals must not suffer.
“The animal should be relaxed before slaughter,” he told The Daily Star. “They should not see other dead animals and blood everywhere.”
Stevenson said the best practice would be to stun the animals before slaughtering them but this might cause problems for Muslims.
He explained that while some Muslim scholars had released fatwas allowing this practice, it was still controversial.
But he added that this should not be the focal point now.
“At the moment what’s going on is utter chaos. It’s inefficient, it’s dangerous for the slaughtermen, it’s producing massively unhealthy meat and it’s not halal right now,” he said.
Jason Mier, executive director of Animals Lebanon, is hoping the food scandal will help expedite the passing of a law that Animals Lebanon and the Agriculture Ministry have been working on for three years.
“The food scandal has highlighted the need for this law,” Meir said. “Even the agriculture minister has admitted to us that he’s going to use this as a push to get this approved in the Cabinet.”
The law aims to regulate all issues related to animal welfare and diseases, including pet shops, zoos and animal smuggling.
“Since independence we’ve never made this much progress on animal welfare,” Mier said.
“As long as you have a vertebrate you will be covered under this law.”
With regard to slaughterhouses, Meir said the law would bring Lebanon in line with conventions of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), an 80-year-old animal rights and welfare organization, of which Lebanon is a member.
“[This law states] that you cannot, in any sense, perform acts that cause distress, suffering or torture to animals,” Mier explained, and this would apply to animals inside slaughterhouses.
The law is currently with the Cabinet and will have to be forwarded to Parliament in order to be ratified.
Meir acknowledges that it may take one to two years, but is confident that the law will pass eventually.
“It’s not an easy country to get laws passed, and we know that there’s political difficulties in this,” Mier said.
“It does take time and it takes a lot of effort. If you take those things into consideration then it’s not that disappointing.”
- See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Nov-29/279319-will-food-scandal-lead-to-animal-welfare-law.ashx#sthash.s5lkbVyt.dpuf

BEIRUT: Several groups that advocate for animal welfare are hoping to capitalize on the recent food scandal to improve the conditions for animals in Lebanon’s slaughterhouses. Peter Stevenson, chief policy adviser for Compassion in World Farming, an NGO that campaigns to end factory farming, came to Beirut this week to meet with several government officials to push animal welfare onto the agenda for future reform.
Animals Lebanon, an animal welfare NGO, is also hoping the food scandal will encourage government officials to pass a comprehensive animal welfare law that was recently handed to the Cabinet. The law encompasses a wide variety of animal welfare issues, including slaughterhouse regulations.
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour sparked a food scandal earlier this month when he listed the names of several supermarkets and restaurants that he said were selling contaminated products.
The campaign has been ongoing for several weeks now and slaughterhouses have recently come under scrutiny. Ziyad Shbib, the governor of Beirut, recently ordered the temporary closure of the notorious Karantina slaughterhouse so that it could be renovated to meet food safety standards.
Following the closure of Karantina, three slaughterhouses and a chicken farm in the south were also closed temporarily, as well as Tripoli’s main slaughterhouse.
CIWF dispatched Stevenson to Beirut in order to try and see to it that when the slaughterhouses reopen, animal welfare will be taken into consideration.
“What we would say, and I think we’re very backed up by science on this: If you’ve got bad welfare conditions, you’re also going to have bad food safety,” Stevenson told The Daily Star.
CIWF has been campaigning for the closure of the Karantina slaughterhouse for over a year now.
Many of the animals in Karantina are imported from Europe, where they are largely protected under law, whereas in Karantina they are subject to a wide range of abuses.
Untrained slaughtermen routinely hang cattle by their legs from the ceilings and leave them dangling, often over puddles of other animals’ blood, for extended periods of time.
Stevenson argues that practices like this are not only painful for the animal, but also have a negative impact on food safety.
“[Animals are] being dragged through the filthy floor, there’s blood, there’s urine, there’s feces,” Stevenson said. “So the hide of the animal, the skin, is getting utterly contaminated with bacteria.”
With the help of local NGO Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA), CIWF has been able to secure meetings with several notable politicians such Abu Faour, Shbib, Walid Jumblatt and Agricultural Minister Akram Chehayeb.
“It’s been an encouraging couple of days,” Stevenson said of the meetings. “Nobody has said, ‘Oh we don’t care,’ or, ‘Just leave us alone.’”
Stevenson said the challenge now was to do something meaningful going forward.
He made detailed recommendations to government officials based on similar plans that had been implemented in Jordan to reduce the stress experienced by the animals and also make the environment more sanitary.
The issue of ensuring meat is halal could be a complicating factor. It’s questionable whether the current practices are halal, but ensuring best practice in the future is also difficult.
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Akkari has never visited the Karantina slaughterhouse, but he said that in order to for it to be halal, animals must not suffer.
“The animal should be relaxed before slaughter,” he told The Daily Star. “They should not see other dead animals and blood everywhere.”
Stevenson said the best practice would be to stun the animals before slaughtering them but this might cause problems for Muslims.
He explained that while some Muslim scholars had released fatwas allowing this practice, it was still controversial.
But he added that this should not be the focal point now.
“At the moment what’s going on is utter chaos. It’s inefficient, it’s dangerous for the slaughtermen, it’s producing massively unhealthy meat and it’s not halal right now,” he said.
Jason Mier, executive director of Animals Lebanon, is hoping the food scandal will help expedite the passing of a law that Animals Lebanon and the Agriculture Ministry have been working on for three years.
“The food scandal has highlighted the need for this law,” Meir said. “Even the agriculture minister has admitted to us that he’s going to use this as a push to get this approved in the Cabinet.”
The law aims to regulate all issues related to animal welfare and diseases, including pet shops, zoos and animal smuggling.
“Since independence we’ve never made this much progress on animal welfare,” Mier said.
“As long as you have a vertebrate you will be covered under this law.”
With regard to slaughterhouses, Meir said the law would bring Lebanon in line with conventions of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), an 80-year-old animal rights and welfare organization, of which Lebanon is a member.
“[This law states] that you cannot, in any sense, perform acts that cause distress, suffering or torture to animals,” Mier explained, and this would apply to animals inside slaughterhouses.
The law is currently with the Cabinet and will have to be forwarded to Parliament in order to be ratified.
Meir acknowledges that it may take one to two years, but is confident that the law will pass eventually.
“It’s not an easy country to get laws passed, and we know that there’s political difficulties in this,” Mier said.
“It does take time and it takes a lot of effort. If you take those things into consideration then it’s not that disappointing.”
- See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Nov-29/279319-will-food-scandal-lead-to-animal-welfare-law.ashx#sthash.s5lkbVyt.dpuf

BEIRUT: Several groups that advocate for animal welfare are hoping to capitalize on the recent food scandal to improve the conditions for animals in Lebanon’s slaughterhouses. Peter Stevenson, chief policy adviser for Compassion in World Farming, an NGO that campaigns to end factory farming, came to Beirut this week to meet with several government officials to push animal welfare onto the agenda for future reform.
Animals Lebanon, an animal welfare NGO, is also hoping the food scandal will encourage government officials to pass a comprehensive animal welfare law that was recently handed to the Cabinet. The law encompasses a wide variety of animal welfare issues, including slaughterhouse regulations.
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour sparked a food scandal earlier this month when he listed the names of several supermarkets and restaurants that he said were selling contaminated products.
The campaign has been ongoing for several weeks now and slaughterhouses have recently come under scrutiny. Ziyad Shbib, the governor of Beirut, recently ordered the temporary closure of the notorious Karantina slaughterhouse so that it could be renovated to meet food safety standards.
Following the closure of Karantina, three slaughterhouses and a chicken farm in the south were also closed temporarily, as well as Tripoli’s main slaughterhouse.
CIWF dispatched Stevenson to Beirut in order to try and see to it that when the slaughterhouses reopen, animal welfare will be taken into consideration.
“What we would say, and I think we’re very backed up by science on this: If you’ve got bad welfare conditions, you’re also going to have bad food safety,” Stevenson told The Daily Star.
CIWF has been campaigning for the closure of the Karantina slaughterhouse for over a year now.
Many of the animals in Karantina are imported from Europe, where they are largely protected under law, whereas in Karantina they are subject to a wide range of abuses.
Untrained slaughtermen routinely hang cattle by their legs from the ceilings and leave them dangling, often over puddles of other animals’ blood, for extended periods of time.
Stevenson argues that practices like this are not only painful for the animal, but also have a negative impact on food safety.
“[Animals are] being dragged through the filthy floor, there’s blood, there’s urine, there’s feces,” Stevenson said. “So the hide of the animal, the skin, is getting utterly contaminated with bacteria.”
With the help of local NGO Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA), CIWF has been able to secure meetings with several notable politicians such Abu Faour, Shbib, Walid Jumblatt and Agricultural Minister Akram Chehayeb.
“It’s been an encouraging couple of days,” Stevenson said of the meetings. “Nobody has said, ‘Oh we don’t care,’ or, ‘Just leave us alone.’”
Stevenson said the challenge now was to do something meaningful going forward.
He made detailed recommendations to government officials based on similar plans that had been implemented in Jordan to reduce the stress experienced by the animals and also make the environment more sanitary.
The issue of ensuring meat is halal could be a complicating factor. It’s questionable whether the current practices are halal, but ensuring best practice in the future is also difficult.
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Akkari has never visited the Karantina slaughterhouse, but he said that in order to for it to be halal, animals must not suffer.
“The animal should be relaxed before slaughter,” he told The Daily Star. “They should not see other dead animals and blood everywhere.”
Stevenson said the best practice would be to stun the animals before slaughtering them but this might cause problems for Muslims.
He explained that while some Muslim scholars had released fatwas allowing this practice, it was still controversial.
But he added that this should not be the focal point now.
“At the moment what’s going on is utter chaos. It’s inefficient, it’s dangerous for the slaughtermen, it’s producing massively unhealthy meat and it’s not halal right now,” he said.
Jason Mier, executive director of Animals Lebanon, is hoping the food scandal will help expedite the passing of a law that Animals Lebanon and the Agriculture Ministry have been working on for three years.
“The food scandal has highlighted the need for this law,” Meir said. “Even the agriculture minister has admitted to us that he’s going to use this as a push to get this approved in the Cabinet.”
The law aims to regulate all issues related to animal welfare and diseases, including pet shops, zoos and animal smuggling.
“Since independence we’ve never made this much progress on animal welfare,” Mier said.
“As long as you have a vertebrate you will be covered under this law.”
With regard to slaughterhouses, Meir said the law would bring Lebanon in line with conventions of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), an 80-year-old animal rights and welfare organization, of which Lebanon is a member.
“[This law states] that you cannot, in any sense, perform acts that cause distress, suffering or torture to animals,” Mier explained, and this would apply to animals inside slaughterhouses.
The law is currently with the Cabinet and will have to be forwarded to Parliament in order to be ratified.
Meir acknowledges that it may take one to two years, but is confident that the law will pass eventually.
“It’s not an easy country to get laws passed, and we know that there’s political difficulties in this,” Mier said.
“It does take time and it takes a lot of effort. If you take those things into consideration then it’s not that disappointing.”
- See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Nov-29/279319-will-food-scandal-lead-to-animal-welfare-law.ashx#sthash.s5lkbVyt.dpuf