Last year a groundbreaking Mercy For Animals investigation into several slaughterhouses throughout Mexico revealed animals cruelly shocked with electric prongs in their faces and eyes, beaten over the head with sledgehammers, dragged to the kill floor, repeatedly and viciously stabbed, and left to choke on their own blood and vomit. Additionally, the investigation showed participation of minors in animal slaughter.
This investigation led to the proposal of a historic law earlier this year after international outcry from millions. If enacted, the law—the first of its kind in Mexico—would make it a crime to slaughter an animal who had not been properly stunned. But legislators have yet to act on it.
Now the Congreso de la Unión (Congress of the Union) is urging two governmental agencies that oversee slaughterhouses to report on the conditions of animal slaughter facilities throughout the country and include which facilities have been sanctioned.
The motion, spearheaded by congress member Ulises Ramírez Núñez (PAN) and approved by senators and congress members of several parties, states:
In this sense, the work done by Mercy For Animals is a clear example of the citizen’s denunciation against corruption, since if the law was complied with and the inspection and correct application of sanctions was carried out, there would surely not be a documentary to which we refer. We must not ignore allegations of mistreatment of animals in animal slaughter centers for human consumption, since it must respect and enforce the norms and laws that ensure the dignity of living beings. (our translation)
After releasing our brave investigators’ footage from slaughterhouses operated and overseen by the Mexican government, MFA filed a legal complaint urging government agencies to investigate the many violations of official standards and the federal law on animal health.
Watch the heartbreaking footage.
It’s time for the federal government of Mexico to send a clear message: Animal cruelty must not be tolerated. Animals deserve better than to be painfully shocked, shackled, sliced open, and immersed in vats of scalding water while still conscious and able to feel pain. No animal should have to endure a fate like that.