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
38
4
0
10
20
30
40
50
% P
igs
Ele
ctri
c P
rodd
ed
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
4
20 20
85
0
20
40
60
80
100
Per
cen
t
% 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
30
90 90 91 94
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
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