A new undercover investigation from animal rights activist Joey Carbstrong of a Halal sheep and goat slaughterhouse in Arley, Warwickshire, England, has led to an official investigation over allegations of animal cruelty. The slaughterhouse, owned by T&S Abattoir, is being investigated by the Food Standards Agency and three workers have been terminated.
Carbstrong said he filmed around 200 hours of footage last summer, and claims to have found multiple instances of possible illegality at the abattoir concerning the rough handling of the animals and ineffective restraints during slaughter.
Jenny L. Mace, an associate lecturer in animal welfare and ethics with the University of Winchester’s Animal Welfare Research Group, produced a report after reviewing the footage. In the report she wrote, “Overall, 31 problematic welfare indicators were observed, pointing to immense pain, fear, and distress for the sheep. Amongst these indicators were five illegal types of activity: 1) extremely rough handling of sheep by staff, particularly in the pre-restraint and restrainer areas; 2) an ineffective mechanical restrainer of sheep for slaughter; 3) moving, hoisting, and dismembering sheep who are still conscious; 4) failure to wait the minimum 20-second time period post-cut prior to even thinking about potentially moving them; and 5) the absence of systematic checks for consciousness and death. Other key concerns discussed include sheep successfully jumping barriers, sheep witnessing the bleeding and hoisting of conspecifics just a few feet away, the manual forced immobilisation of sheep heads for the throat cut, and manual wound disturbance post-cut. All other indicators were still rated the highest level of urgency as well due to a combination of frequency, severity, duration, avoidability, and the fact that killing the animal is the ultimate objective here, which brings inherent welfare problems with it.”
Protesters gathered at the site on the 12th of March, 2025, calling for the abattoir to be shut down, but it is not clear if some of them may still eat meat from animals killed in non-halal slaughterhouses, where similar animal abuse takes place as numerous investigations have already exposed — so, their protest may have been influenced by Islamophobic sentiments as Halal slaughterhouses operate for the Muslim community.
Carbstrong has publicised the footage he obtained in two YouTube videos, one very graphic, and another non-graphic (which includes Carbstrong confronting the owner of the slaughterhouse). In 2015, animal rights group Animal Aid conducted a similar investigation in a halal slaughterhouse in Yorkshire that led to a police investigation.
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