REGINA – Stunning livestock before slaughter must be done properly or it won’t work, says an American livestock handling specialist.
Temple Grandin, a professor at Colorado State University, told the annual meeting of Foundation for Animal Care Saskatchewan that stunning equipment must be in good condition and put in the correct place on the animal.
A June 1995 survey of 21 small and medium packing plants in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario found 79 percent complied with acceptable stunning procedures, Grandin said.
Of the 21 percent that were not acceptable, Grandin found that sometimes the stunner prongs were not placed correctly on hogs. The prongs were too far back from the head and shoulders to work properly.
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One plant was putting two cattle together during stunning. One plant was not stunning sheep at all but was slitting their throats and bleeding them out after they had been strapped to a table with old seatbelts.
Chickens get through
Two of four poultry plants were unacceptable because live chickens were getting through the stunner, Grandin said.
She said there must be sufficient power to stun properly, and the power needed varies with different animals. The minimum power required for sheep is one amp, while hogs require 1.25 amps.
“There are no humane reasons for a maximum (amperage level),” she said in response to a question, but slaughterers don’t want to use more than they need or it will affect meat quality.
Grandin also said people should pay more attention to amperage than volts.
“The number one (animal) welfare problem is bad gun maintenance,” she said. Guns should be taken apart and cleaned thoroughly every day.
She emphasized that humane treatment of animals requires they be as comfortable and calm as possible prior to and during slaughter.
Research shows when the throat of a conscious animal is cut, the animal does not die right away, she said. Some cattle can live for eight to nine seconds, while others live more than a minute.
Grandin noted that almost all Muslims, who must eat meat slaughtered at halal plants, will now accept the use of stunning the head only. However, animals killed according to Jewish kosher requirements are not stunned, which raises questions about humane treatment.
Animals killed in the kosher manner don’t seem to react if the slaughter is done correctly, she said. Great care must be taken to keep the animal calm and use proper, sharp knives.
Grandin said halal plants which kill live animals using short, unsuitable knives are not acceptable.
