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The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015

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This is the original version (as it was originally made).

PART 4Restraining operations

General requirement

18.  No person may stun or kill an animal without restraining it in an appropriate manner.

Restraining bovine animals

19.  Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph 18, no person may stun or kill an adult bovine animal unless at the time it is stunned or killed it is confined in a stunning pen or in a restraining pen which (in either case) is in good working order.

Suspending poultry

20.  The prohibition in Article 15(3)(a) (suspending or hoisting conscious animals) does not apply in the case of poultry which may be suspended for stunning or killing provided that appropriate measures are taken to ensure that, at the point of being stunned or killed, the poultry are in a sufficiently relaxed state for stunning or killing to be carried out effectively and without undue delay.

Shackle lines

21.—(1) No person may operate a shackle line unless—

(a)it is possible to relieve any avoidable pain, distress or suffering which poultry suspended from shackles appear to be suffering or to remove poultry from the shackles; and

(b)the speed at which the shackle line is operated is such that any act or operation intended to be performed in relation to, or on, poultry suspended from it can be performed without undue haste and with proper regard for the welfare of the poultry.

(2) No person may, in connection with the stunning or killing of poultry, use a shackle line, machine or other equipment unless it is used in connection with the stunning or killing of poultry of the type, size and weight for which it was designed, save in an emergency where it is used to relieve suffering.

Restraining operations

22.  The business operator and any person engaged in the stunning or killing of an animal must ensure that an animal which is to be stunned or killed by mechanical or electrical means applied to the head is presented in such a position that the equipment can be applied and operated easily, accurately and for the appropriate time.

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