Behavioural responses of sheep to the sight and smell of blood

Abstract

The existing legislation in England and Wales (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, 1995) prohibits slaughter (sticking) of red meat animals within sight of others. Although this prohibition was originally designed to protect the welfare of animals, trying to get stunned animals out of sight of others can often result in signs of recovery being shown prior to, during and following sticking in commercial situations (Anil and McKinstry, 1993). The question of whether slaughter by exsanguination (sticking), or killing within sight, causes stress in other animals is a controversial issue. In regard to witnessing slaughter we have already attempted to address this question. This work produced no evidence to suggest that sheep (Anilet al., 1996) or pigs (Anilet al., 1997) were distressed. The effects of killing by mechanical means or shooting animals on witnessing conspecifics have also been studied in mice, hens and farmed deer by Bracke (1993) who concluded that no evidence of distress was evident. However, it is still widely believed that slaughter animals are sensitive to the presence of blood at abattoirs. This investigation was designed to test whether sheep would show any changes in their behaviour when exposed to the sight and smell of conspecific blood.