The alleged animal welfare violations in the slaughterhouse in Aschaffenburg are now also the concern of the Bavarian state parliament. As the Greens faction confirmed on Thursday, they submitted three written questions to the state government on the subject. Accordingly, there are more than 60 individual questions – including the slaughter of sick animals and possible errors by the responsible control authorities.
The Schweinfurt Green MP Paul Knoblach speaks of “system failure” and accuses the state government and Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) of failure: “When will the ministerial team finally understand that it’s about living things and not logs? Those responsible in the state government have nothing understood, every sausage sandwich show on stage is proof of that.” He also spoke of an “unfortunate camaraderie” whose roots went back “to the time of Franz Josef Strauss”.
Allegations against the slaughterhouse became known at the end of July. Video footage, said to have come from the slaughterhouse, shows workers shocking pigs and cattle with electric batons and dismantling animals that were apparently still alive. The Bavarian Control Authority for Food Safety and Veterinary Affairs (KBLV) banned the operation of the slaughterhouse during a subsequent inspection until further notice. An official veterinarian is said to have warned the slaughterhouse of controls.
In the investigations into animal welfare violations at the Aschaffenburg slaughterhouse, the number of suspects had recently increased. The public prosecutor’s office is now investigating a double-digit number of people. Similar violations of animal welfare were also raised against a company in the neighboring district of Miltenberg. The district office had initially prohibited the operation there.