Image: Weihbold
When it comes to meat, more and more people are not only asking about the “what”, but above all the “how”. The often cruel images of slaughterhouses and industrial animal processing have long been burned into consumers’ memories. Alternatives to slaughter that allow animals to end their lives with as little stress as possible are becoming increasingly popular.
One of these alternatives is mobile partial slaughter. Several changes in the law, most recently at EU level in 2021, have made it significantly easier for farmers to save their animals from having to be transported to the slaughterhouse in recent years. Instead, the butcher comes to the farm.
- Also read: Stress-free to the slaughterhouse: When the butcher comes to the farmer
Two pioneers of semi-mobile slaughter in Upper Austria are the company of Manfred Sieberer from Pfaffstätt (Braunau district) and Manfred Pilsl from Sonnberg (Urfahr-Raum district). With self-made trailers – a mobile slaughterhouse – they drive through the country, from company to company.
“There is actually nothing better for the animal, but also for the consumer,” says Pilsl. The animals would first be fixed in a device and then the stunning shot would be given. Everything is over within a minute, the animal is bled on the trailer. The first slaughter is monitored by an official veterinarian, and a veterinarian is present at every subsequent slaughter.
According to Manfred Sieberer, you would taste the stress-free end of the animal’s life above all else. “The meat is buttery soft and stays fresh longer compared to industrially slaughtered animals.”
Video from the archive: This is how mobile slaughter works
Proportion still small
The amount of meat slaughtered on a semi-mobile basis is still small compared to that from conventional production. According to Sieberer and Pilsl, we are “in the per mille range”. However, both would see increasing interest among consumers and livestock owners. The President of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Agriculture, Franz Waldenberger, can also confirm this: “We are currently supporting and informing 65 companies in Upper Austria about the possibilities for semi-mobile slaughter, which shows that animal welfare is important to many farmers.”
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Source: Nachrichten
