Israeli Government Orders Closure of Country’s Largest Slaughterhouse

Israeli Agriculture minister Uri Ariel has ordered a slaughterhouse located in the Galilee to shut its doors following an investigative report shown by Channel 2, in which employees can be seen cutting the throats of Australian cattle, hanging them while conscious, and dragging other animals by their legs and tails, among other abuses. (Footage of the report can be found here.)

The slaughterhouse is the largest is Israel and kills an estimated 120,000 cattle each year. Right groups Animals Australia filmed the alleged violations, then told the Australian Department of Agriculture, which pressured Israel to make a move. The Times of Israel reports:

Following the report, the Australian government demanded a probe into the abattoir’s practices, citing allegations that cattle were seriously abused on their way to slaughter.



Australia, which supplies around half of the cattle on the Israeli market, demands fair and humane treatment of the animals even after they’ve left its territory. After becoming aware of the footage, Australian officials demanded an investigation from the Israeli Agriculture Ministry.



The ministry told Channel 2 on Sunday that it would treat the case seriously and remedy any failings of policy to prevent such treatment from recurring.



The Dabah company, which runs the slaughterhouse, said that it has always striven “to provide optimal conditions to the animals in its facilities” and claimed the workers were acting against company policies. Dabah said it had fired the offending employees and would ensure such incidents did not happen again.

Said Ariel, “I will show zero tolerance towards harming animals.”

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