Abstract:
The study hypothesis was that pre-slaughter handling is not conducted in such a way that
pigs can be considered humanely slaughtered, nor is it conducive to promoting those
properties of fresh meat that could enhance pork quality. The 1st phase of the investigation
was aimed at confirming the present compliance level within the prescribed norms. To this
end the importance of stunning induction requirements for effective electrical stunning,
the welfare implications relating to the pre-slaughter handling of pigs and the stunning
and sticking techniques were investigated. Pre-slaughter welfare of the pigs at the abattoir
was found to be influenced at the outset by the origin and type of pig slaughtered, the daily
throughput range of pigs and the type of abattoir involved. A disappointing pre-arrival
aspect was that deficiencies in road motor vehicles were observed while off-loading pigs.
Through poor design or lack of maintenance, another factor that hampered free movement
of pigs was the off-loading facilities. The nature of animal behaviour in the pens, in the
passages and when going into the stunning area was directly related to the pig handling
efficiency and to the nature and extent of design and maintenance problems with
equipment. None of the abattoirs had a well designed in-feed to a well planned stunning
area/facility, and a very high level of pig pre-slaughter stress prevailed. The optimum
position of the electrodes is virtually impossible to attain under practical conditions and the
practice of repeat application of electrical stunning is common. Of the total sample size
(n = 1175), 34%were difficult to shackle, 90%of these being from the abattoirs tending to
slaughter more routinely a wide range of different sized pigs. In this survey 149 pigs (13 %)
required more than a single sticking attempt to bleed out properly, considerably higher
than in other published reports.
