Germany approves camera law for large slaughterhouses

Germany’s federal parliament, the Bundestag, approved a law on November 5 that will require large slaughterhouses to install cameras in order to monitor how animals are treated. While the Ministry of Agriculture says the rule covers more than 90 percent of slaughtered animals, critics stress that most sites are excluded from the bill.

Large slaughterhouses to start recording in Germany

The law amends the Animal Welfare Act (Tierschutzgesetz) and applies to slaughterhouses that handle at least 1.000 livestock units of mammals or 150.000 poultry or rabbits a year, according to the bill.

Cameras must film the unloading of animals, their time in waiting areas, stunning, the bleeding cut and the first steps afterwards. Slaughterhouses must also keep the footage for the last 30 days on which animals were slaughtered and make it available to the authorities every working day. Authorities can also order cameras at smaller sites if there are concrete signs of violations.

Agriculture Minister Alois Rainer (CDU) had previously announced that larger slaughterhouses would have to install cameras, while smaller ones would be exempt. The law is now due to take effect on January 1, 2027, according to the amended bill.

Rainer described the significance of the bill by saying that "The cameras will act as an animal welfare assistant," as reported by Zeit.

Critics question the exemption & who will check the footage

The rule applies to 232 slaughter facilities. However, Volker Gaßner of the animal welfare organisation Vier Pfoten notes that Germany has more than 4.200 in total, as reported by tagesschau. The Ministry of Agriculture, on the other hand, counters that those 232 handle more than 90 percent of slaughtered animals.

The Greens’ agriculture spokesperson Zoe Mayer told Zeit, "We need comprehensive video surveillance in all slaughterhouses, without exception". CDU lawmaker Anna Aeikens defended the exemption, telling tagesschau that higher requirements could push small businesses to give up.

AfD lawmaker Bernd Schattner criticised the rule for creating "new costs, new documentation requirements and new bureaucracy" for businesses, as reported by Zeit. The government estimates the cost at 172.000 euros a year and 232.000 euros one-off across all 232 sites.

How much the cameras achieve is likely to depend on how authorities use the footage. The law requires them to review it through spot checks and when there is cause, but veterinary offices are thinly staffed in many places, tagesschau reports. Vier Pfoten wants the law to require authorities to use AI so they can cope with the amount of footage, but coalition lawmakers consider an obligation to introduce it by a set date unworkable for now.