QMS to investigate welfare breach accusations
The chairman of Quality Meat Scotland’s pig standards setting committee, Philip Sleigh, has resigned his QMS position following accusations of breaches of animal welfare at his pig unit. The meat industry standards body is to undertake a full investigation.
Undercover footage was filmed at the P&G Sleigh Pig Unit in Aberdeenshire and the accusations were also published in an article in The Times newspaper.
The pig unit supplies product to Tesco and Lidl and the actions resulted in a delisting by Tesco and a suspension from its supply chain by Lidl, pending the results of the QMS investigation.
It is understood that pigs raised at P&G Sleigh Pig Unit are sent to Quality Pork Processors (QPP) at Brechin and that the animals are no longer sold to markets that require assurance standards.
A spokesperson for Quality Meat Scotland told Meat Management: “After reviewing the footage and assessor investigation, QMS has withdrawn this member from our Quality Assurance scheme for non-compliance with our standards. Animals must be handled humanely and with respect. Pigs that do not respond to treatment or require emergency euthanasia must be promptly and humanely euthanised by a trained and competent person in line with the Pig Veterinary Society (PVS) Casualty Pig publication.
“Philip Sleigh is no longer a member of the QMS board or any QMS committees.
“We are prohibited from making further comment or discussing specific details while an active investigation is ongoing.”
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