Deer hung alive at licensed Spanish slaughterhouse, footage reveals
Animal Equality has published footage from inside a licensed slaughterhouse in Segovia, Spain, showing deer being killed in conditions that appear to violate European animal welfare law – including animals left conscious during bleeding and hung by a single limb while still showing signs of life.
The footage, the first of its kind published by the organisation in Spain, captured at the Vicente de Lucas slaughterhouse in Segovia, during the killing of more than 200 deer in a single day. The animals had been captured at Monte de El Pardo, a protected nature reserve on the outskirts of Madrid, before being transported to the facility following handling procedures that included the removal of their antlers.
A series of serious welfare failures
Animals were driven towards the kill area in groups, with a worker striking the floor with a stick and waving a plastic bag to force them forward. Because deer are wild animals with no habituation to human contact or confinement, this kind of handling triggers extreme stress responses – and before the slaughter process even began more than five animals were found dead in the facility, apparently having died from crushing or cardiac arrest caused by stress.
The killing process itself shows repeated failures to render animals unconscious. Several deer continue moving their legs, lifting their heads, or flicking their tails after being shot – signs that stun procedures either failed or that the animals did not remain stunned until death, as required under EU Regulation 1099/2009. Despite this, some animals were subsequently hung by a single limb while still displaying signs of consciousness.
Animal Equality has filed a formal complaint with the relevant authorities and is demanding a public investigation by the Spanish Government and the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN). In response, the regional government of Castilla y León confirmed that the reported conduct does constitute a breach of regulations, that corrective measures have been applied, and that a formal file has been opened.
An enforcement problem
The findings are part of a broader pattern of welfare failures documented across Spanish slaughterhouses handling pigs, cattle and chickens, demonstrating structural failures in inspection and oversight systems, rather than isolated incidents.
Similarly, right here in the UK, Animal Equality has uncovered abuse, neglect, and / or clear non-compliances on every farm or slaughterhouse that we’ve ever obtained footage from. We have filmed pigs being hammered to death, chickens being deliberately left to dehydrate and die, sheep getting painfully caught in slaughterhouse machinery, and cows being hoisted and dragged by their fragile hips.
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Executive Director Animal Equality UK
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