Welfare Issues DuringHandling Transport and Slaughter

Temple GrandinDepartment 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

Tie up loose chain ends that scare animals

Bright green hose may cause animals to stop

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

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4

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% P

igs

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rodd

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Dark Entrance Well Lit Entrance

All handlers were well trained and only pigs that

balked or backed up were prodded.

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

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20 20

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Per

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% Electric Prodded % Time Pigs Squealed

Easy-to-Drive Pigs

Hard-to-Drive Pigs

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

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90 90 91 94

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1996 1999 2000 2001 2002

USDA survey prior to industry

wide auditing

McDonald’s Audits started

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 Number of Plants % Electric Prodded

Less than 50 16 20%

51-100 13 27%

101-200 10 12%

201-300 21 24%

More than 300 6 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

Percentage collapsed in 30 seconds

94% 68%

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

UnderstandingAssessing

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 StressWind 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

www.Grandin.com