Auditing and assessing the welfare of livestock and poultry during pre-slaughter handling and stunning.

Abstract

Abstract Animal-based measures are an effective method for both auditing and monitoring handling and stunning of livestock and poultry in commercial abattoirs. The following variables should be measured. For livestock, the percentage of animals is assessed on five measures: (i) effective stunning with one application; (ii) insensible on the bleed rail; (iii) falling during handling; (iv) electric prod use; and (v) vocalization. For poultry, the percentage of birds is scored on six measures: (i) broken wings; (ii) broken legs; (iii) overloaded transport containers; (iv) broken transport containers; (v) effective stunning; and (vi) uncut red birds. Vocalization and electric prod use in cattle and pigs can be associated with higher physiological measures of stress. Legislative recommendations from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA, 2013a-d) and OIE (2018) and legislative requirements from FSIS/USDA (2017) are outlined. Their similarities and differences are discussed. Written Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and corrective actions should comply with both legislative and customer requirements. SOPs should clearly state the specific operations in each abattoir and should not be copied from industry or government documents. Large abattoirs will need an animal welfare officer who has taken a training course that is approved in that country. Future welfare assessment methods such as gap analysis are explained.