Welfare of pigs during killing for purposes other than slaughter

Pigs at different stages of the production cycle may have to be killed on-farm for purposes other thanslaughter (where slaughter is dened as killing for human consumption) either individually (e.g.severely injured pigs) or on a large scale (e.g. unproductive animals or for disease control reasons)....

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Authors: EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW), Saxmose Nielsen, Søren, Alvarez, Julio, Bicout, Dominique Joseph, Calistri, Paolo, Depner, Klaus, Drewe, Julian Ashley, Garin-Bastuji, Bruno, Gonzales Rojas, Jose Luis, Gortázar Schmidt, Christian, Michel, Virginie, Miranda Chueca, Miguel Ángel, Roberts, Helen Clare, Sihvonen, Liisa Helena, Spoolder, Hans, Stahl, Karl, Viltrop, Arvo, Winckler, Christoph, Candiani, Denise, Fabris, Chiara, Van der Stede, Yves, Velarde, Antonio
Format: article
Publication Date:2020
Country:España
Institution:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repository:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:20.500.12327/888
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12327/888
https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2020.6195
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:636
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Summary:Pigs at different stages of the production cycle may have to be killed on-farm for purposes other thanslaughter (where slaughter is dened as killing for human consumption) either individually (e.g.severely injured pigs) or on a large scale (e.g. unproductive animals or for disease control reasons).This opinion assessed the risks associated with the on-farm killing of pigs and included two phases: 1)handling and moving of pigs and 2) killing methods (including restraint). The killing methods weresubdivided into four categories: electrical methods, mechanical methods, gas mixture methods andlethal injec tion. Four welfare consequences to which pigs can be exposed to during on-farm killingwere identied: pain, fear, impeded movement and respiratory distress. Welfare consequences andrelevant animal-based measures were described. In total, 28 hazards were associated with the welfareconsequences; majority of the hazards (24) are related to Phase 2 (killing). The main hazards areassociated with lack of staff skills and training, and poor-designed and constructed facilities. Staff wasidentied as an origin of all hazards, either due to lack of skills needed to perform appropriate killing ordue to fatigue. Corrective measures were identied for 25 hazards. Outcome tables linking hazards,welfare consequences, animal-based measures, hazard origins, prevent ive and corrective measureswere developed and mitigation measures proposed.

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