Tasmanian Quality Meats Abattoir

5 Burlington Rd, Cressy TAS 7302, Australia
Name: Tasmanian Quality Meats Abattoir
Address: 5 Burlington Rd, Cressy TAS 7302, Australia
LGA/Council: Northern Midlands Council
Council website: northmidlands.tas.gov.au
Council email: [email protected]
Council phone: (03) 6397 7303
Summary:

Award-winning export abattoir. Kills sheep and bobby calves. First exposed in May 2017 by Animal Liberation and Animal Liberation Tasmania after a hidden camera investigation in late 2016 revealed systemic cruelty, additional footage released by Animal Liberation in July 2017.

Categories:
Last known status: Open and operating
Listing updated: 2023
Listing ID: 61420
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On the outskirts of the town of Cressy, 30 minutes from Launceston, a series of corrugated iron buildings sits alongside a fast-flowing creek. This is Tasmanian Quality Meats, a multi-species slaughterhouse which specialises in the killing of tiny, days old bobby calves who have been discarded as waste from any of the 412 dairy farms in Tasmania. 

At TQM, terrified calves are hit across the face and body to force them into a narrow walkway and, finally, into a restraint where an electric prodder is pushed into their skulls and an electrical current passed through their brain before their throats are slit. We saw many calves who weren’t stunned at all, meaning that they were killed while fully conscious, likely experiencing excruciating pain and terror as they slowly bled out. They then have their bodies taken apart and their blood collected. The bodies of these calves are often sold as veal, while their skins are used to create leather products, sought after for their softness. 

The slaughter of sheep is no less violent. Our cameras filmed the use of dogs to herd and harass terrified sheep, who were then shoved, thrown and hit with paddles and pipes to force them towards the electric stunner. These dogs were then returned to metal and concrete cages, where they were left overnight, barking and running at the bars in boredom and frustration. 

At TQM, we captured horrific scenes of tiny male calves being kicked, thrown, hit with paddles across the face and body and killed while fully conscious. We watched as one calf fell off the killing table into a pool of blood so deep that they were almost submerged. We saw them continue to blink up at us from the bottom of this horrific pit, a clear sign that they remained awake and aware as the blood drained from their body.

What we saw was horrifying, yet, we know that this violence is standard across Australia.

Take action now to demand that the Tasmanian government urgently address the systemic failures we have uncovered in their animal slaughter facilities. 

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Award-winning export abattoir. Kills sheep and bobby calves.

A hidden camera investigation in late 2016 revealed systemic cruelty. The footage was provided to the relevant authority, the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries (DPIPWE); as of July 2017 there appears to have been no action taken by the department in response to the footage.

First exposed in May 2017 by Animal Liberation and Animal Liberation Tasmania with release of bobby calf slaughter footage ("wastage" from the dairy industry - see www.dropdairy.com.au for more information). Footage of sheep/lamb slaughter released by Animal Liberation in July 2017.

The footage shows workers repeatedly beating, kicking, and throwing the animals; and regular ineffective use of the electric stunner on sheep, with at least one slaughtered while fully conscious.

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News (16) View all

Media releases by Farm Transparency Project (6) View all

  • Activists publish interactive virtual tours of Tasmanian slaughterhouses

    Tuesday 19 Mar 2024

    Animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project (FTP) has published interactive virtual tours of two Tasmanian slaughterhouses recently exposed for cruelty The tours were filmed with 360-degree cameras inside Tasmanian Quality Meats at Cressy, and Scottsdale Pork, during FTP's covert investigation last year With the state election just days away, FTP has published the tours - which incorporate footage from hidden cameras - to draw attention to months of inaction by the Rockliff government    Farm Transparency Project (FTP) has published on its website two interactive virtual slaughterhouse tours, filmed last year with 360° cameras inside the Tasmanian Quality Meats and Scottsdale Pork... Read more >

  • New anti-dairy campaign takes aim at Dairy Australia’s flagship education program

    Tuesday 27 Feb 2024

    Farm Transparency Project has released a new campaign calling for a ban of Dairy Australia’s Discover Dairy program, which provides lesson plans and activities to schools. The campaign, titled End Dairy Slaughter, features footage of the slaughter of week-old bobby calves and 4-6 year old dairy cows being violently slaughtered, which has been captured in Australian slaughterhouses in the past year.  Farm Transparency Project is calling out Dairy Australia for manipulative and deceptive targeting of children through their program which the group claims is biased and inaccurate.  A mother cow chases after a trailer taking away her newborn calf.  ... Read more >

  • Protesters plan disruption at Cressy slaughterhouse after release of “shocking” hidden camera footage

    Monday 15 Jan 2024

    Campaigners from Animal Liberation Tasmania and Farm Transparency Project are planning on disrupting animal transport trucks at Tasmanian Quality Meats slaughterhouse, in a protest against “systemic animal cruelty in Tasmanian slaughterhouses.” Read more >

  • Federal government fails to act on horrific animal cruelty at major Tasmanian slaughterhouse

    Friday 22 Dec 2023

    Tasmanian Quality Meats has been given the all-clear from the federal government to return to business as usual, despite evidence of systemic animal abuse exposed by us earlier this month. The slaughterhouse was originally threatened with losing its export license after our footage showed dozens of calves being violently killed while fully conscious, as well as workers kicking, hitting and throwing calves and sheep. But, after pressure from the slaughterhouse and the state government, the federal government has backed down, opting to allow the slaughterhouse to keep its licence to export sheep, and requiring that they replace their restrainer before... Read more >

  • Statement in Response to Tasmanian Slaughterhouse Announcement

    Thursday 14 Dec 2023

    All talk, little action The Tasmanian government has just released their response to our shocking exposé of Tasmanian slaughterhouses, and its far from the decisive action they pledged to take just four days ago. Rather than responding to evidence of systemic animal abuse immediately, the government has announced that the most they can manage is to re-investigate the facilities and form a task force to consider developing new animal welfare guidelines. Given that all five slaughterhouses we investigated were already in breach of existing state and national welfare legislation, we fail to see what developing new ones will manage, except... Read more >

  • Major Tasmanian abattoir suspended and four more under investigation after animal advocacy group reveals “systemic animal abuse and regulatory breaches”

    Friday 8 Dec 2023

    View photos and footage: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14oe6RnPEip5M0CMPALvQECagjPiP1tzQ?usp=drive_link Animal advocacy group Farm Transparency Project has released hidden camera footage from five Tasmanian slaughterhouses, in what they’re calling a comprehensive and damning indictment of the state’s animal welfare regulators.  The footage shows the slaughter of sheep, cows, deer, pigs and week-old ‘bobby calves’ from the dairy industry. Many animals are revealed to be killed while fully conscious, including dozens of bobby calves who are captured dying slowly over minutes as they bleed out. Farm Transparency Project is working with... Read more >

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