Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the number of livestock slaughtered without prior stunning in abattoirs in the South West.

The Food Standards Agency carries out a periodic Slaughter Sector Survey, which includes information on different stunning methods and the number of animals each method was used for, plus the number of animals slaughtered without prior stunning. The Survey covers slaughterhouses operating in England and Wales, but doesn’t present regional data separately.

During the week for the 2024 Survey, 97% of poultry and 85% of red meat animals were stunned before slaughter. The 2024 Survey Report can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/farm-animals-slaughter-sector-survey-2024. The 2026 Survey will be published later this year.