Lanzarote adapts the Island Slaughterhouse to community regulations that it had been violating for 14 years

“In all that time, no one was able to close the slaughterhouse to comply with the law,” says Betancort, who assures that when they came to power they found "innumerable" sanctioning files for serious infractions.

September 27 2024 (12:27 WEST)
President's visit to the Insular Slaughterhouse before starting work.
President's visit to the Insular Slaughterhouse before starting work.

The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, has confirmed that the modernization project of the Insular Slaughterhouse -financed with FDCAN funds- “manages to adapt the facilities to the community regulations that it had been violating for more than 14 years”.

He recalled that the European regulations on the matter came into force in 2009, giving a period of ten years to adapt to this rule that seeks to avoid animal suffering at the time of sacrifice. “In all that time, no one was able to close the slaughterhouse to comply with the law,” says Betancort.

The island president, also Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, has guaranteed that, contrary to what has happened in recent years, the opening of the Lanzarote Island Slaughterhouse will be carried out “legally and modernized”, respecting the regulations and applying the required measures to avoid animal suffering. 

Oswaldo Betancort has assured that upon arriving in government he "was able to confirm that there were innumerable sanctioning files opened by Public Health due to serious infractions because the Slaughterhouse did not have the systems to guarantee the individual restraint of all animals. Now, we managed to end those serious health deficiencies that have been denounced for more than a decade”, he clarified.

The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, who thanked the sector for their understanding in facing this temporary situation that leads them to carry out the sacrifices on the neighboring island of Fuerteventura, explains that the Institution's forecast is to finish this important intervention in approximately three weeks. With which the work will have been executed in six months, after an unforeseen event such as the sinking of the floor of the corrals delayed its completion. 

 

More subsidies for operating expenses

The Minister of Agriculture has detailed that at the beginning of this year 2024 there were several meetings held with all the associations and ranchers to agree on the most appropriate dates to close the Slaughterhouse, as well as the economic measures to be taken to compensate for the expenses and/or disturbances that the closure would cause to the sector.

It was initially agreed that within Line 2 of subsidies for the operating expenses of livestock farms, an additional eligible expense called Animal Transport and Channel Transport would be included, establishing 150 euros per LSU (larger livestock unit) slaughtered in the previous year. However, that amount will finally be 200 euros per LSU.

During the past year 2023, the Cabildo of Lanzarote granted a total of 1.4 million euros through this Line 2 of operating expenses of livestock farms. While in this year 2024 the item of the call has been multiplied to reach 2,380,000 million euros.

In the year 2023, a total of 2603 goats, sheep and pigs, and a total of 70 cattle were slaughtered in the island slaughterhouse. And based on these figures, the different ranchers will be charged.

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