Death threats at abattoir at centre of animal cruelty allegations

The threats emerged as protestors formed a peaceful demonstration outside Bowood Yorkshire Lamb abattoir in North Yorkshire – keen to vent their disgust and horror at images of animal cruelty taken from footage recorded inside.

Many came from surrounding villages, but some protestors travelled to the halal abattoir at Busby Stoop, near Thirsk, from as far away as Lancaster.

No threats or violence took place at the protest, which was attended by about 50 people keen to show their disgust and anger.

Occasionally tempers flared and shouts of “scum” and “low life” were directed at the building and the workers. One woman shouted: “What would James Herriot think of this?”

Although the vast majority of protests have been peaceful, The Northern Echo has learnt that the company has been the target of serious death threats from an anonymous minority – and that the issue has also been hijacked by the far right.

A spokesperson for the company, who did not wish to be named, said the four people identified as abusing animals in the video footage secretly filmed by Animal Aid have now been sacked, but they had “stacks of letters” containing death threats at their offices.

“Those four people will never be coming back here again. Because of the four people’s actions, the remaining 70 people are bearing the brunt of it and have been through a lot of intimidation and stress,” he said.

“We have 60 to 70 people wanting to know if they’re going to have jobs. They don’t want to be coming to work in an atmosphere like this; everybody has a mortgage to pay and children to feed.

“The phone is ringing off the hook with abusive phone calls and there are stacks of letters with death threats. Most of the people who have contacted us are genuinely concerned about the welfare of animals, which we appreciate, we’re responding to that.

“But some of it is very nasty. It’s threats against staff, the managers, the place here; everything. A lot of it is turning into pure hatred. Some of the threats say things like: “I hope your kids die and your family dies of cancer.”

“And the right wing are using it to fuel racism.”

The Northern Echo found one violent threat posted on an open internet review, stating: "hope you all die slow with cancer especially the kids...rot in hell everyone of you. People are coming to get you and make you all suffer."

Workers left the building to reach cars and other vehicles in the compound covered their faces and their car registration plates were also hidden.

Occasionally tempers flared during yesterday's protest and shouts of “scum” and “low life” were directed at the building and the workers. One woman shouted: “What would James Herriot think of this?”

The protestors outside the compound ranged from people describing themselves as animal activists to local residents who felt deeply disturbed by the footage recorded and who wished wanted to make their feelings known.

One resident from nearby Sowerby, who didn’t wish to be named, said: “I came from work because I just felt so helpless after hearing about it. It’s just so upsetting. The photograph of the sheep’s face just kept me awake.

“I still can’t bring myself to watch the video. I think that’s like a lot of us. I can’t believe people can be so cruel. The point of halal is it’s supposed to not be a traumatic death and people who want halal from here for that reason, haven’t got that.”

Fiona Munro, from Darlington, said: "To me there's no such thing as humane meat; this is happening everywhere."

The footage recorded inside the halal slaughterhouse showed a worker hacking and sawing at animals’ throats, in contravention of Islamic practice, as well as sheep being kicked in the face and head and hurled into metal walls and taunted and frightened by workers at Bowood Yorkshire Lamb abattoir.

The footage has already been condemned by the Muslim Council of Britain as going against the very principles of halal slaughter.

Another protester, Stephen Mallion, had driven over from Lancaster for the protest.

He said: "It’s the first type of protest like this I’ve ever been to.

“I just saw it in the papers and it got my back up. It’s very cruel.

The group gathered outside the compound of Bowood Yorkshire Lamb, where there was a small police presence.

The protest was organised by Thirsk businessman Tarek Ghouri.

He said: “We’ve had messages of support from Cambridge, London, Edinburgh; all wishing they could be here.”

He added: “I think everyone looking at the footage was outraged by the sheer brutality.”

He said the purpose of the protest was to reflect the strength of feeling over the treatment of animals witnessed on the Animal Aid footage and to urge the Food Standards Agency to shut down the abattoir pending an investigation.

The protest was also supporting calls on the Government to enforce the use of monitored CCTV in slaughterhouses.

Further down the road from the protest, at the Jaipur Spice Indian restaurant, the head waiter, who gave his name as Mohammed Ali, said he was saddened by the images of workers mistreating animals and hoped it would result in animal welfare training for abattoir staff.

“I think people working in slaughter houses should be specifically trained on how to work with animals, how you behave with them and how you handle animals,” he said.

“It’s very inhumane. It doesn’t happen every day, but when it does it hurts because the animals can’t complain and we have responsibility for them.

“The slaughter house shouldn’t close; but I hope there’s training for staff on how to work properly with animals.

He said as a Muslim he ate halal meat as it was supposed to limit animal suffering and prevent bacteria building up in meat by draining blood.