“Animals cut up while still alive”: a Savoie slaughterhouse supplying Super U, Intermarché and E.Leclerc targeted by L214

The Saint-Étienne-de-Cuines slaughterhouse in Savoie has been targeted by an investigation by the L214 association. It reports offences committed by showing animals still alive during bleeding.

“Those lambs over there, they are so cute, […] it's better not to look at them too much". These words, spoken by a veterinarian in charge of animal protection, attached to the prefecture of Savoie, set the tone for the investigation by the L214 association conducted in the slaughterhouse of Saint-Étienne-de-Cuines, in Savoie. The images filmed on site between August 29 and October 1, 2024, by a hidden camera, show in particular a line of animals hanging by the leg, about to be “cut up while still alive”. All the facts revealed present serious signs of offenses. As reported by L214, sheep and cattle are still conscious and panicked at the time of slaughter, and are also witnessing the death of their fellow animals.

However, current regulations require that animals be housed in an “accommodation area adapted to their needs”. It must be “as quiet as possible to allow them to rest”. The stunning is then carried out by a “competent” operator who must carry out “checks to verify the real loss of consciousness and sensitivity”. animals”. In the video, the animals always show “characteristic signs of consciousness”. Hanging on the end of a metal hook, some of them kick out while trying to struggle. According to the association, “at this point, they should already be dead, as required by law”.

Faced with these “findings of non-compliance”, a judicial investigation has been launched, indicates the Savoie prefecture. Pending an “in-depth analysis”, the activity of the Saint-Étienne-de-Cuines slaughterhouse has been “suspended”. Located in Maurienne, it is managed by agricultural cooperatives, breeders and butchers close to the establishment. One of its leaders, Lionel Rittaud, is the president of the bovine inter-professional association (Interbev) in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

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Supermarkets "Super U", "Intermarché" and "E.Leclerc" are concerned

State services responsible for applying the regulations relative &agrav; animal protection (DDETSPP 73) have planned to go to the scene “as soon as possible”, adds the pre ;éfecture. It states that “appropriate follow-up will be implemented regarding slaughter conditions, documented procedures and the “system of monitoring and self-control of these procedures by the slaughterhouse”.

According to L214, this establishment supplies several stores attached to the department including “Super U,” Intermarché and E.Leclerc. “Local butchers” will also be supplied there. In September, the association had already denounced the breeding conditions of the Côtes-d'Armor pigs supplying E.Leclerc supermarkets for its Repère brand and the butchers in its stores. The company's president, Michel-Eacutedouard Leclerc, had already been informed of the “horror” experienced thanks to the association's previous investigation, published in March. The group points out that to date, “E.Leclerc has not committed to against the worst practices of pig breeding and slaughter, and that the brand continues to endorse methods that cause acute suffering to animals.”

Bérénice Riaux, in charge of investigations at L214, highlights the recurrence of these acts of cruelty: “This slaughterhouse is the fourth that we have singled out in the space of a year." Faced with In light of this finding, the organization is calling on the Minister of Agriculture, Anne Genevard, to “conduct an internal audit in French animal slaughterhouses to take stock of slaughter conditions” and to make these reports “public”.