ASSESSMENT OF ANIMAL WELFARE STATUS DURING TRANSPORTATION AND SLAUGHTERING OF RUMINANT ANIMALS AT LOCAL SLAUGHTER HOUSES IN BANGLADESH

Abstract

Background: Most of the developing countries including Bangladesh where humane treatment of slaughter animals is not satisfactorily practiced mainly due to poorly developed and implemented animal welfare legislation resulting in stress conditions and excessive suffering of animals. Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the animal welfare knowledge and attitudes of animal transporters and butchers during transportation and slaughtering animals in local slaughter houses in Bangladesh Materials and Methods: This study was carried out from July to October 2017 at 40 local slaughter houses of 10 Upazilas in Mymensingh district. A pre-structured questionnaire was used to collect information from butchers at pre- and during slaughtering animals. The welfare data of 123 ruminant animals (84 cattle, 31 goats and 8 sheep) which were subjected to slaughter was collected by direct observation and examination. Results: Meat animals are usually purchased from the local market, some from farms and even from imported Indian cattle are usually transported from far away to slaughter houses. Significantly (p < 0.01) highest percentage of animals were transported by walking (42.28%), followed by truck (22.76%), pick-up van (20.33%), local vehicle (11.38%) and lowest by auto-rickshaw (3.25%). Small ruminants were kept in a lair-age for 1 to 2 days but most of the cattle were slaughtered upon arrival. Out of 123 animals investigated, 0.81 to 4.07% had lameness, 0.81 to 10.57% had skin lesions and 4.06 to 18.69% had dirty conditions in the different body regions. Diarrhea was recorded in 4.88% animals whereas 7.32% had nasal and 4.07% had ocular discharges. Lair-age was found in 85% slaughter houses with pacca (15.0%), kaccha (45.0%) and semi-pacca (40.0%) conditions but 80% had no bedding materials and 92.5% dirty floor condition. Mostly jute rope (89.43%) and halal method (100%) were used for casting and slaughtering of animals respectively without regular veterinary inspection. The stress caused by transportation and slaughtering of animals were not minimized due to lack of practice of animal welfare legislation in Bangladesh. Conclusions: The insufficient knowledge of animal transporters and butchers about animal behavior and animal welfare suggests that there is a need to improve animal welfare situation through training to the concerned people. Humane slaughter of animals may reduce the incidence of injury to the animals and less bruise to the carcasses that improve the meat quality. Keywords: Transportation, Slaughter house, Animal welfare, Animal handling, Butchers