THREE slaughtermen facing animal cruelty charges have had all charges dropped against them.Tom Lang Ltd abattoir at Gages Farm, Ashburton, came under the spotlight after animal rights group Animal Aid installed covert video equipment on its premises last autumn. The group claimed the footage it captured showed evidence of cruelty, with ineffective stunning, sheep picked up by their fleeces and thrown into the stun pen and pigs coerced into moving with chains, tongs, ticks and blows. Between them Gordon Elliott, of Wooden Fit, Ashburton, Nathan Mumford, of Beverley Gardens, Ashburton, and Michael Northmore, of Village View Farm, Cornwood, faced 23 breaches under animal welfare legislation.

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