Latest news with #abattoir
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Runaway bull 'may have fled backstreet abattoir'
A bull found loose on the streets of Birmingham may have "escaped from a backstreet slaughterhouse", an animal sanctuary said. After being detained on Friday, the animal was taken 170 miles away to The Hillside Sanctuary in Frettenham, Norfolk, and given the name "Liam". The site's owners said he was very stressed when he arrived there in the middle of the night, but has calmed down now. The sanctuary said it had liaised with police, and efforts were being made to find out more about Liam's background and the possibility that he ran away from an abattoir. The Hillside Sanctuary often gets calls from supporters across the country, but the one that came in on Friday was quite unusual. A caller said a bull was loose on the streets of Digbeth in Birmingham. The sanctuary said its phone then kept buzzing with more people wanting to get in contact about the bolting bovine. Ricky Valentine from Hillside said: "We liaised with the police up there - they had him cornered in a car park apparently. "They think that he's broke out of a backstreet slaughterhouse up there. "He was obviously contained somewhere which wasn't safe for him, and he's broke out and we're very grateful that we've got him at the sanctuary where he can spend the rest of his days." The BBC has contacted the police for comment. Mr Valentine said he was glad the media had picked up the bull's story because, with Liam being a dangerous animal and protection of the public being the priority, the outcome could have been completely different. Birmingham City Council said the animal had been checked over by its animal welfare team, and it was trying to find the bull's owner. Although there are 750 rescued cattle at the sanctuary, Liam, who is thought to be about two years old, is being kept on his own at the moment. "We're gently trying to let him de-stress," said Mr Valentine. "You've got to appreciate what he's gone through, it must be very traumatic. "The first night, we got back at 2:45 in the morning, and he was really stressed, but he's slowly coming out of that now." Mr Valentine added that there might be a bit more stress to come for Liam before he can properly relax. He continued: "He's got to be castrated, and that'll be a week or two weeks to heal up properly and then he'll come in [a field] with some cattle. "He'll have a wonderful life here, he'll have no worries whatsoever." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Loose Birmingham bull starts new life - in Norfolk Bull spotted loose on streets of Birmingham Hillside Animal Sanctuary
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Runaway bull 'may have fled backstreet abattoir'
A bull found loose on the streets of Birmingham may have "escaped from a backstreet slaughterhouse", an animal sanctuary said. After being detained on Friday, the animal was taken 170 miles away to The Hillside Sanctuary in Frettenham, Norfolk, and given the name "Liam". The site's owners said he was very stressed when he arrived there in the middle of the night, but has calmed down now. The sanctuary said it had liaised with police, and efforts were being made to find out more about Liam's background and the possibility that he ran away from an abattoir. The Hillside Sanctuary often gets calls from supporters across the country, but the one that came in on Friday was quite unusual. A caller said a bull was loose on the streets of Digbeth in Birmingham. The sanctuary said its phone then kept buzzing with more people wanting to get in contact about the bolting bovine. Ricky Valentine from Hillside said: "We liaised with the police up there - they had him cornered in a car park apparently. "They think that he's broke out of a backstreet slaughterhouse up there. "He was obviously contained somewhere which wasn't safe for him, and he's broke out and we're very grateful that we've got him at the sanctuary where he can spend the rest of his days." The BBC has contacted the police for comment. Mr Valentine said he was glad the media had picked up the bull's story because, with Liam being a dangerous animal and protection of the public being the priority, the outcome could have been completely different. Birmingham City Council said the animal had been checked over by its animal welfare team, and it was trying to find the bull's owner. Although there are 750 rescued cattle at the sanctuary, Liam, who is thought to be about two years old, is being kept on his own at the moment. "We're gently trying to let him de-stress," said Mr Valentine. "You've got to appreciate what he's gone through, it must be very traumatic. "The first night, we got back at 2:45 in the morning, and he was really stressed, but he's slowly coming out of that now." Mr Valentine added that there might be a bit more stress to come for Liam before he can properly relax. He continued: "He's got to be castrated, and that'll be a week or two weeks to heal up properly and then he'll come in [a field] with some cattle. "He'll have a wonderful life here, he'll have no worries whatsoever." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Loose Birmingham bull starts new life - in Norfolk Bull spotted loose on streets of Birmingham Hillside Animal Sanctuary
The Independent
3 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Liam the bull rehomed after unexpected city break across Birmingham
A bull escaped from an abattoir and was seen running through the streets of Birmingham on Friday morning. Birmingham City Council staff safely contained the bull in New Bond Street, Digbeth, after it was spotted by passers-by. The bull, estimated to be around two years old, was cared for by the West Midlands Police after being checked by an animal welfare team. Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Frettenham, near Norwich, offered the bull a permanent home after being alerted to its escape. The bull, named Liam, arrived at Hillside sanctuary on Saturday and will live with 750 other rescued cattle.
BBC News
26-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Small abattoirs in South East face uncertain future as costs rise
The owner of one of the last remaining small abattoirs in the South East has said he is "incredibly concerned" about the future of the Smith, who runs Down Land Traditional Meats in Henfield, West Sussex, said without more financial support from the government his slaughterhouse may not survive. He said that would impact farmers who choose to supply butchers and farm shops, rather than government said it is "committed to working with the meat processing sector in tackling the challenges they face". The cost of disposing of animal waste has risen to £5,000 a week. "An ageing workforce is also a challenge" Mr Smith said, "the average age of a slaughterman is 63. Young people are not interested in coming in to the industry. "The abattoir is not viable and is making a loss. I'm running a wholesale butchery, that's what's keeping our business alive."We do need support and funding." The number of abattoirs in the UK has fallen from about 2,500 in the 1970s to 203 by operations in England fell from 64 in 2019, to 49 in 2023, with five closing in Edward Perrett from Ditchling, West Sussex, uses Mr Smith's abattoir, selling the meat to customers in his farm shop."To have a short journey to an abattoir is good for animal welfare and it keeps the cost down" he said."If the abattoir closed down it would make life very difficult." Mr Smith has the support of Arundel and South Downs Conservative MP Andrew Griffith said: "This is a vital, sometimes neglected part of our food supply chain. There is a real crisis here."The last government set up some grants but we need even more than that and crucially, less red tape." A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "Small abattoirs make a vital contribution towards maintaining our resilient food supply chain and provide a competitive route to market for producers of rare and native breeds."We are investing £5 billion into farming, the largest ever budget for sustainable food production, and are unlocking rural growth with reforms to boost farmers' profits."
The Guardian
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Oona Doherty: Specky Clark review – distressed orphan out-dances the abbatoir's raw reality
Here we are in an abattoir with a talking pig carcass. You see, Oona Doherty puts worlds on stage you won't see elsewhere. Best known for her brilliant ode to working class Belfast, Hard to be Soft, Doherty's latest piece returns to her home town in a story inspired by past generations, including her great-great-grandfather (the original Specky Clark), where biography and fiction merge with messy edges. Specky (played by petite Faith Prendergast, dwarfed by the tall dancers in adult roles) arrives in Belfast from Glasgow aged 10. Doherty herself moved from London to Belfast at the same age – you can always question whose story this really is. The show is rooted in realism but quickly moves to the magical kind and then full-blown fantasy. 'Let me tell ya a story,' says the narrator, conjuring backstories and personal myths. Set at Samhain, the Gaelic festival marking the start of winter, it's a liminal time when the barrier between the living and dead becomes permeable. Even the anachronistic soundtrack – a David Holmes tune thrown into what we assume is an earlier age – destabilises the sense of solidity. When orphaned Specky is put to work in the abattoir, the pig he's been told to kill stands up and gives him a hug. This is the show's most arresting, affecting scene. It's the comfort Specky needs, but at the same the moment his heart hardens. It's comedic too, which is crucial to Doherty's tone (even if that's occasionally overegged). The show gives us raw reality, and the escape from that. Specky dances with the sense of losing (then finding) yourself. Dance is catharsis; it's the portal out of here. For all that Doherty leans towards theatricality, she has an amazing way with pure movement, whether Specky's internal distress erupting outward in full-body shakes, or the whole cast moving as if Doherty has torn pages from a dance encyclopedia at random: an Irish dance leg flung high, a folk reel, a manic floss, a hip-hop move. This is bold, original, distinctive work. But the driving dramatic idea, Specky's grief for his mother, is underplayed (despite dramaturgical input from playwright Enda Walsh). It doesn't burrow deep enough. We hope for a great redemptive arc that doesn't come. Which is realism, for sure.
