November 6, 2026, 9:06 am | Read time: 2 minutes
On November 5, 2026, the Bundestag passed a mandate requiring video surveillance in large slaughterhouses, with support from the governing coalition. In recent years, animal rights activists have repeatedly exposed abuses in individual facilities using hidden cameras: employees hitting and kicking animals or twisting the heads and bodies of live chickens. PETBOOK explains what changes and why there is criticism.
What Will Apply in the Future?
The mandate affects slaughterhouses that process at least 1,000 so-called large livestock units annually. This equates to 1,000 cattle, 5,000 pigs, or 150,000 chickens. According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, more than 90 percent of animals are slaughtered in these facilities.1
The cameras are intended to show whether employees use violence when driving animals from the truck and whether the animals are adequately stunned before slaughter. This aims to ensure pigs and cattle do not feel pain. Facilities must store the footage for 30 slaughter days and make it available to the regulatory authority. However, authorities can only review the material randomly, as staffing is thin in many places. According to Deutschlandfunk, there is a one-year transition period for implementation.2
Federal Minister of Agriculture Alois Rainer (CSU) stated during the first reading that the government is creating “transparency where it is urgently needed.”
Also of interest: Will animal testing become easier soon?
Why Is There Criticism?
Smaller slaughterhouses and butchers are exempt, which is criticized by animal rights activists, veterinarians, as well as the Green and Left parties. “Every animal deserves protection,” says Ina Latendorf, agricultural spokesperson for the Left in the Bundestag. The organization Four Paws points out that only 232 out of more than 4,200 slaughter facilities are subject to the mandate. CDU representative Anna Aeikens considers the exemption justifiable, arguing that higher requirements would lead smaller operations to conclude “it’s no longer worth it.”
Four Paws also calls for the use of artificial intelligence in the evaluation process to be mandated. The Union and SPD currently consider this unfeasible. The Food, Beverages and Catering Union criticizes the law as constant surveillance of employees. The Association of the Meat Industry, which includes companies like Tönnies, Vion, and Westfleisch, has been advocating for the mandate for years.