[Steel]

I will be taking my first pig to Gagen's abattoir in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire in September because it is the closest, but it doesn't have a great review in the abattoir Guide. 

One member came back in 2015 and reported that changes had been made in light of the comments left about its rough handling of the animals, and she reported a good experience there.

Has anybody else used this abattoir since?

[kja]

  We have used them in the past they are only just up the rod from us they have new staff in the lairage from when the reviews were made and I hear they are ok now.

We use Joseph Morris mostly which is a bit of a trek but really good service along with good prices and a fantastic butchers shop that we stock up from with anything we don't produce ourselves.

Where a bouts are you ?.

[Eve]

I strongly recommend Leech & Sons in Melbourn near Royston, they're easy to reach from the main road so no endless Cambridgeshire country lanes and excellent pig handling.

[Steel]

Kja - that's a relief. As it's my first time taking an animal I'll be a fragile so any poor treatment could set me off. 

Eve - thanks for the recommendation. I'm in South Lincs area, so Leech & Sons are a bit of a trek for me. Gagens is about 30 minutes from us so I was hoping they had improved otherwise I'd have to drag the poor boy further afield to find people who would be kind to him.

 

[honeyend]

I would second Leeches, yes it will be a trek for you, but its a very small set up and they will be unloaded and in before you know it. Mine slept in the trailer overnight and walked in following a bucket of apples, and the butcher in the shop went through the list of cuts with me.
  One you get to the A1 its all main roads.

[Steel]

When i say a trek, it is 90 minutes vs 30 minutes for Gagen, and if I have to get there before 9am I have to run the gauntlet of rush hour. That's too much.

If I wasn't going to use Gagen's I'd be looking for something closer to home, such as Wright's - that would only take me 40 minutes.