Welfare Issues During Handling Transport and Slaughter Temple Grandin Department of Animal Sciences Colorado State University
Handling Issues • People Not Trained and Supervised • Facility Problems • Difficult to Handle Animals – Producer Problem
Training People in Low Stress Animal Handling • Calm animals are easier to handle • Teach behavioral principles, flight zone, and point of balance • An electric prod should never be used as a person’s primary driving tool • Most people can be trained to handle animals, but a few people are not suitable
Flight Zone Principle
Point of Balance
A flag can be used to turn an animal by blocking the animal’s vision on one side
Paddle stick and small flag for moving animals
Should Electric Prods Be Banned? • My answer is “No” • Electric prods should only be used on a stubborn animal that refuses to move and then put away • Handlers should never constantly carry an electric prod • If banned, handler may resort to abusive methods
Handling Tips to Reduce Electric Prod Use • For cattle and pigs, fill crowd pen half full • Move separate small groups of cattle and pigs • Sheep continuous flow large groups
Fixing Facility Problems That Make Animals Difficult to Move • Remove Distractions • Block Vision of Things that Cause Balking • Non-slip Flooring
Distractions That Cause Balking • High
Contrast • Rapid Movement Bright green hose may cause animals to stop
Tie up loose chain ends that scare animals
Blocking Vision of Distractions
Non-slip Flooring is Essential • Animals get agitated when they slip • Squeeze chutes, stocks, scales, unloading ramps
Steer coming out of squeeze chute
Animals are Afraid of Dark Places
Adding a light at the restrainer entrance or making other lighting changes that eliminate shiny reflections will improve animal movement
Electric Prod Use on Pigs Was Reduced By Adding Lighting at the Restrainer Entrance
% Pigs Electric Prodded
50 40
38
30
All handlers were well trained and only pigs that balked or backed up were prodded.
20 10
4
0
Dark Entrance
Well Lit Entrance
Causes of Hard to Handle Cattle • • • • •
Lameness Weak cull cows become non-ambulatory Wild and excitable animals Fed too much beta-agonist Cattle handled exclusively on horseback are dangerous to move by a handler on foot • Constant kicking in some cattle worked by dogs
This pig has horrible legs
Producers should select for sound feet and legs
Comparison of Electric Prod Use and Squealing Between Easy-to-Drive Pigs and Hard-to-Drive Pigs Easy-to-Drive Pigs
100 80
Percent
85
Hard-to-Drive Pigs
60 40
20
20
20
4 0
% Electric Prodded
% Time Pigs Squealed
Holding Producers Accountable for Handling Problems Will Reduce Them • Slaughter plants reduced downers by charging a handling fee • Producers need to take responsibility for welfare problems that they cause • Less bruises when producers pay for them
Causes of Hard to Handle Pigs • • • • •
Producer never walked the pens Lameness – Poor leg conformation Weak from too much beta-agonist Excitable genetics PSS stress gene
Maintaining Good Handling Practices • Requires constant measurement • Requires regular training and retraining • Requires management commitment to good handling
Measurement System for Monitoring Handling Faults • Percentage of animals electric prodded • Percentage falling • Percentage moved faster than a walk or trot • Percentage vocalizing (bellow, squeal) • Percentage hitting fences or gates
Measurement Prevents Bad From Becoming Normal • Can monitor whether procedures are improving or becoming worse • Set limits to determine passing score AMI and OIE both 1% or less of the animals falling • High standards are possible Perfect is not possible
Big Issue in Handling Downers
Most downer cattle can be prevented with good management on the farm
Percentage of Beef Plants That Stunned 95% or More Cattle with the First Shot 100 90 80
90
90
91
94
1999
2000
2001
2002
70 60 50 40 30 20
30
10 0
1996
USDA McDonald’s survey prior Audits to industry started wide auditing
Continued auditing by major customers Continuous auditing maintains good performance.
Video Auditing Over the Internet Is Used Now
Welfare Issues at the Slaughter Plant • • • • • •
Plants with high chain speeds Do animals know they are getting slaughtered?? Religious slaughter without stunning Fear of blood?? Stunner maintenance Is a kicking animal hanging on the rail conscious??
Part 313: Humane Slaughter of Livestock Regulations 313.2 (2) The dragging of disabled animals and other animals unable to move while conscious is prohibited. Stunned animals may, however, be dragged. OIE (2008) Welfare Code – Conscious animals should not be dragged, dropped or thrown
USDA/FSIS Has Increased Enforcement of the Humane Slaughter Acts • Problems with uneven enforcement due to vague regulations and directives • A directive on preventing EXCESSIVE electric prod has different interpretations
Typical Stunners in Beef Plants • Pneumatic
captive bolt • Cartridge fixed capture bolt
Typical Electric Stunners for Sheep and Pigs
Are Plants with High Chain Speeds Bad?
Percentage of cattle moved with an electric prod at different line speeds Line speed/hour Less than 50 51-100 101-200 201-300 More than 300
Number of Plants 16 13 10 21 6
% Electric Prodded 20% 27% 12% 24% 25% Grandin, 2005
Effect of Chain Speed on Animal Handling and Stunning • Exceeding the speed capacity of the equipment causes abuse in both large and small plants. • Understaffing often causes abuse • High line speed plants can be very humane if designed properly
Does the Steer Know He Is Getting Slaughtered??
I Observed Cattle Behavior at the Plant and in Feed Yard Chutes and it was the Same in Both Plants Feedlot
Plant
Cortisol levels during restraint in a head gate for blood testing
No other painful procedures were performed
Cortisol levels at the slaughter plant were similar to on-farm handling
Fear was the main stressor
Stress levels at a well-run slaughter plant are similar to handling on a feedlot or ranch
There Are Two Issues in Religious Slaughter • How the animal is held and handled • Slaughter without stunning The biggest welfare issue is the restraint method
Some plants still use cruel shackling and hoisting for restraining the animal. Legal under an exemption in the Humane Slaughter Act
OIE 2008 Animal Welfare Code Methods of restraint causing avoidable suffering should not be used in conscious animals because they cause severe pain and stress: • suspending or hoisting animals (other than poultry) by the feet or legs; • indiscriminate and inappropriate use of stunning equipment; • mechanical clamping of the legs or feet of the animals (other than shackles used in poultry and ostriches) as the sole method of restraint; • breaking legs, cutting leg tendons, or blinding an animal to immobilize them; • severing the spinal cord. For example using a puntilla or dagger to immobilize animals, using electric currents to immobilize animals except for paper stunning.
Head restraint device for kosher or halal slaughter
The animal is held in a comfortable upright position
Long Special Knife for Kosher Slaughter
Time to Eye Rollback and Collapse at a Kosher Plant Good Technique
Poor Technique
Avg. time to collapse
17 seconds
33 seconds
Longest time
38 seconds
120 seconds
94%
68%
Percentage collapsed in 30 seconds
Is Stunning Allowed for Religious Slaughter? • Glatt Kosher – No • Regular Kosher – Yes, after the cut • Halal – Will often allow stunning before cut
Are Animal Afraid of Blood? • Steers and heifers walk calmly into a box covered with blood • Blood, saliva, or urine from highly stressed animals is avoided in cattle, pigs, and rodents
Cause of Captive Bolt Stunner Problems in Order of Importance 1. Lack of Maintenance 2. Damp Cartridges 3. Lack of Operator Training
Understanding Assessing Insensibility • Kicking occurs in unconscious, insensible animals • It will still kick even if the head is removed
Transport Issues • • • • • •
Fitness for Travel – Big Number 1 Cold Stress Heat Stress Hauled Long Distances Overloaded Vehicles Bruises, Death Losses
Unfit Animals for Transport • • • •
Weak cull animals Can barely walk – lame Weak from too much beta-agonist Freshly weaned “bawling” weaned on truck in calves • Neonatal dairy calves unless transported to specialized calf raising facility
Cold Stress Wind Chill Kills • Wind chill factors greatly lower temperature • Freezing rain is deadly • Winter close up truck • Dry cold
Heat Stress • Heat builds up rapidly in a stationary vehicle • Keep trucks moving • If stationary, provide fans or sprinklers
ALERT
Long Distance Transport • Cull cows in some regions transported long distances • Lack of local slaughter plants • Calves raised in southeast travel 1,000 to 2,000 miles to feedlots • Spent hens – no local slaughter plants
Bruises, Death Losses, Broken Wings • Reduce damage with incentive pay for handlers and transporters • Bonuses and deductions from producer – Pay reduces losses • Paying loaders and handlers on a “piece work” basis increases damage and it provides the wrong incentives
Rough Handling Doubles the Amount of Bruising
Bruised meat must be cut out and cannot be used for human consumption
People want the new technology, computer or drugs more than they want improve management
Management requires attention to detail – Not a “quick fix
Attitude of management is the single biggest factor that determines how animals are treated
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