slaughter Flashcards
what are the 5 freedoms
o Freedom from hunger and Thirst
o Freedom of Discomfort
o Freedom from pain, injury or disease
o Freedom to express normal behaviour
o Freedom from Fear or Distress
what is animal welfare
o comprises the state of the animal’s body and mind, and the extent to which its nature (genetic traits manifest in breed and temperament) is satisfied
how do we measure welfare?
quantitative
- health and physical
- behaviour
- physiological
- biomarkers
- cognitive
qualitative
- behavioural
slaughter house must ensure that animals
- provided with physical comfort, kept clean, protected from injury + allowed to express normal behaviour
- don’t show signs of pain/fear
- don’t suffer for long time without food and water
steps of slaughtering
- pre-slaughter handling
- stunning
- bleeding
types of stunning
mechanical
electrical
gas
mechanical stunning
concussion
percussion
concussion
- sudden high impact to head - loss of consciousness
- causes the brain to knock about
- captive bolt pistol / non-penetrating percussion device
- to induce immediate unconsciousness
percussion
- strikes head with rapid impact without penetrating
- causes unconsciousness
- percussive stunning hammers/guns
electrical stunning
using stunning electrodes either side of animals brain so current can pass through and cause unconsciousness
- causes grand mal seizures
gas stunning
poultry and pigs
high concentrations of inert gases (argon, nitrogen) or carbon dioxide
can have ethical questions
- gas chambers or tunnels - unconsciousness due to respiratory acidosis and hypoxia, lose consciousness and don’t recover
- easier for large number of pigs and reduces handling stress
- losing consciousness isn’t instantaneous and some get stressed when they inhale the gas
bleeding
- after stunning, they’re suspended by hind limb and bled
- inserted knife into thoracic cavity and severe carotid and jugular
cattle stunning
mechanical and electrical
penetrative captive bolt
- placed on forehead
- trigger
- metal bolt into brain
- penetrates skul
- damages brain and loss of consciousness and pain
pig stunning
electrical
- head-only stunning (most common, and behind ears - generalise epileptic seizure)
mechanical
- captive bolt stunning (in larger pigs where electrical isn’t suitable
- gas
poultry stunning
electrical
- water bath
gas
water bath for poultry
shackled by legs and go through electrically charged water bath
head enters water and Current goes through body
immediate loss of consciousness due to seizure
gasing in poultry
CO2
- allows for group stunning
inert gas
- displaces oxygen causing unconsciousness due to anoxia
- may cause less initial discomfort than CO2 as no sensation of breathlessness
low atmospheric pressure stunning (LAPS)
- reduces atmospheric pressure in chamber causing loss of consciousness due to hypoxia as O2 decreases
reasons for emergency slaughter
- severe injury
- acute illness
- immobility
- thunder/flash
methods of emergency slaughter
- captive bolt gun
- free bullet firearms
- exsanguination
documentation and recording for emergency slaughter
o Records: Detailed records of the emergency slaughter, including the reason, method used, and any inspections conducted, must be maintained
o Notification: Depending on local regulations, authorities such as veterinary public health officials or animal welfare agencies may need to be notified of the emergency slaughter, particularly if the meat is intended for consumption.
slaughter order
- injured during unloading
- to avoid prolonged pain - healthy animals
- sick animals
- could infect other animals and need rigorous inspection to see if safe for consumption
PSE meat
- Pale, soft, and exudative (PSE) meat is the result of a rapid postmortem pH decline while the muscle temperature is too high.
- Both high temperature and low pH affects muscle proteins decreasing ability to hold water (meat drips, is soft and mushy) reflect flight from the surface of meat (meat appears pale)
- PSE meat is especially problematic in the pork industry.
- It is known to be stress-related and inheritable.
DFD meat
- Dark, firm, and dry (DFD) meat is the result of an ultimate pH that is higher than normal.
- Carcasses that produce DFD meat are usually referred to as dark cutters.
- Usually from extreme stress/exercise of muscles before slaughter uses up animals glycogen reserves PM lactic acid production through anaerobic glycolysis is diminished
- DFD meat is 6.2-6.5 pH and normal meat is 5.5pH
- The dry appearance due to unusually high water-holding capacity muscle fibres swell with tightly held water.
slaughter control
- ensures animals are slaughtered humanely and within legal and welfare standards
pre-slaughter handling - proper transport, minimise stress, prevent injury
pre slaughter inspection - health checks and to see if they’re fit for slaughter
stunning and humane slaughter
slaughter procedures
post-slaughter inspection - check carcass and meat quality
hygiene and safety
record keeping and documentation
training and education
pre slaughter health check
ensures animals are healthy and fit for slaughter. These checks help to prevent the processing of animals that might pose a risk to meat quality, public health, or animal welfare.
carcass prepared for inspection
- De-headed (except scalded pigs/poultry)
- Eviscerated, except kidney
- Split (except young animals)
- Organs and both halves marked with numbers
LN
- Soft-elastic consistency, grey-brown colour
- Changes in consistency, shape, size, dystopia
- Meat lymph nodes = collect lymph from muscles, bones, tendons, fascia, joints
o Lnn. Cervicales superficiales
o Lnn. Axilares propria
o Lnn. Poplitei
o Lnn. Ischiadici
o situs - Skin lymph nodes = lymph from skin
- Organ lymph nodes = collect lymph from intrinsic organs
bovine meat inspection
- Regulation
o Cattle younger than 8 months
o > 8 months cattle - Blood – coagulation, colour, bleeding
- Head – clean, processed, symmetrical
o Serosa’s, signs of stunning and sampling
o Tongue – actinobacillosis
o Nervous tissue for prion diseases
o Masseter muscle for cysticercosis
o Lymph nodes for TB - Lymph nodes on head of cattle:
o < 8 months lnn. Retropharyngei med. Et. Lat. – palpation (incision if necessary)
o > 8 months lnn. Retropharyngei med. Et. Lat. Incision and if necessary incision of: mandibulares and parotidei - Masticatory muscles
o Cutting of m.masseter – 2 cuts parallel with mandibula, 1 cut into m. pterygoideus
o Only applies for cattle older than 8 months susceptible to Cysticercosis
o Cysticercosis – c. bovis
judgment of tuberculosis
Judgement
- Tuberculi present within more than 1 organ system and carcass parts the whole carcass is unfit for human consumption
- Tuberculi in lymph nodes of just one organ or one carcass part only affected organ, affected carcass part and local lymph node are unfit for human consumption
control of cystiercosis
- Postmortem meat inspection
- Serology – ELISA
- Farms officially free of cysticercosis
- Meat judgement – invaded meat – unfit for human consumption
- Parts of carcass free of cysts – conditionally acceptable for consumption – only after freezing
- Heart, oesophagus, muscles, diaphragm
BSE
- All cattle must be tested for BSE if they:
o Of any age, show some clinical symptoms related to CNS
o Older than 48 months
Are suspected based on ante mortem findings
emergency slaughtered (accident)/ from serious physiological/ functional disorders
Died or killed on farm, except during eradication of disease, or epidemic measures
Died or killed during transport or in slaughterhouse - If cattle are imported from 3rd counties, Romania, Bulgaria they must be tested for BSE if they are:
o Older than 30 months – regular slaughter- healthy animal
o Older than 30 months and slaughtered within eradication of diseases, and they don’t show clinical symptoms
o Older than 24 months compared to older than 48 months from normal countries
palpation of tongue in cattle
if necessary
lungs in cattle
- trachea, oesophagus – visual inspection
- Visual and palpation: all cattle
- Lungs lymph nodes:
o Mediastinal, bronchial (bifurcation lymph nodes)
- Lungs lymph nodes:
- Cut in cattle older than 8 months
- If necessary – cut in younger animals too
- Then opening the trachea and bronchia and longitudinal cross section in caudal third of the lungs
- If lungs are not intended for human consumption, these inspections are omitted
heart in cattle
- Pericardium and heart – colour, transparency, exudate, fibrosis
- Opening ventricles – endocardium, valves, consistency of myocardium
- Cutting into septum - cysticercosis
- It applies for cattle older than 8 months
liver in cattle
- < 8 months = Visual inspection
- > 8 months
o Visual inspection
o If necessary: additional palpation of liver and lymph nodes (lnn. Portales) and cutting on visceral part (lobus caudatus) to check bile canals
GI in cattle
- GI, LN (lnn. Gastrici, mesenterici), mesentry – visual inspection (young cattle) and palpation (older cattle)
- Cutting the lymph nodes – if necessary (suspected animals; all cattle)
inspection in pigs
- Head, mouth, pharynx, tongue – visual inspection
- Head – cutting into lnn. Mandibulares – in case of suspected animals
- Lungs, trachea, oesophagus – visual inspection
- Lungs and lymph nodes – palpation
- Opening the trachea, bronchi and cutting into lung parenchyma – not done if lungs are not intended for human consumption
- Pericardium and heart – visual only
o Cutting and opening heart, cutting into septum only if necessary - Diaphragm – visual
- Liver and lnn. Portales – visual
o Palpation if necessary - GI tract, peritoneum, L.nodes – visual and palpation and cutting l.nodes if necessary (RISK-BASED)
- Spleen – visual, palpation if necessary
- Kidney- visual, cutting if necessary (with lnn. Renales)
- Peritoneum, pleura- visual
- Reproductive organs- visual
- Samples after the artificial digestion must be examined immediately
