Red deer killed while conscious: Animal Equality uncovers animal welfare violations in Spanish slaughterhouse

On 16 June 2026, the animal welfare organisation Animal Equality released video footage from a Spanish slaughterhouse documenting serious violations of European animal welfare law.

The recordings come from the slaughter facility «Vicente de Lucas» in Segovia and show the killing of over 200 red deer.

Red deer captured and slaughtered from a nature reserve

The animals concerned came from the Monte de El Pardo, a nature reserve of more than 15’000 hectares northwest of Madrid, where hobby hunting is prohibited. The red deer were captured alive, their antlers were mutilated, and they were subsequently transported to the slaughter facility. More than five animals died in the facilities even before the killing began, presumably as a result of stress and fear caused by the captivity.

Eight serious violations of EU animal welfare law

Animal Equality identified eight serious violations of the EU regulation on the protection of animals at the time of killing. The red deer were driven violently in groups into the stunning box and were not individually restrained there. While the animals leapt around in panic, uncontrolled shots were fired to stun them. The animals had to witness their fellow animals collapsing, some severely injured but not sufficiently stunned.

Particularly distressing: the red deer were hung upside down by one leg and their throats were cut, even though some animals still showed clear signs of consciousness: they moved their tail and legs or raised their head while they bled out.

Authorities launch sanction proceedings

Under Spanish law, the failure to properly stun animals before killing them is considered a very serious offence and can be punished with fines of between 6’000 and 100’000 euros. The regional government of Castile and León responded to Animal Equality's criminal complaint: it reviewed transport documents, forwarded the complaint to the veterinary services, carried out additional inspections, ordered corrective measures for animal handling at the slaughterhouse, and initiated steps to open sanction proceedings.

First documentation of the slaughter of red deer in Spain

Vanessa Raith, director of Animal Equality Germany, explained that this is the first published footage of the killing of red deer in a slaughterhouse. The suffering of the affected animals is representative of millions of animals killed every day in industrial slaughter facilities.

What the footage from Segovia shows is not a regrettable isolated case – it is the reflection of a system. Animals that lived in a nature reserve where even hobby hunting is prohibited were captured, mutilated and killed in violation of basic animal welfare regulations. The EU animal welfare regulation exists on paper. What was documented in Segovia shows how far practice and legal norm diverge.

That the authorities reacted at all is thanks to the efforts of Animal Equality, not to a functioning monitoring infrastructure. Wild animals such as red deer are systematically placed in a worse position under European animal welfare law than livestock in intensive farming. Their death serves neither food supply nor nature conservation. It serves profit, and it is made possible by authorities that look the other way until someone brings a camera in.

The Segovia case should also be taken note of in Switzerland and Germany: wherever wild animals are commercially exploited – whether through hobby hunting, enclosure hunting or game enclosures – there is a lack of independent monitoring. The consequences are foreseeable.