Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
c
Educational and technical videos, CD-ROMs, DVDs, and printed publications.
d
Independent advice to governments, other welfare organisations and the food industry, both in the UK and
worldwide.
e
Regular visits to markets and slaughterhouses recommending and advising on improvements where necessary.
f
Funding for essential research projects through grants and awards. Development and application of appropriate
scientific advances into the working practices of the meat industry.
g
Grants towards the improvement of animal handling facilities in markets and slaughterhouses.
Many of their publications are available on http://www.hsa.org.uk/
8
Compassion in World Farming
Compassion in World Farming is an international animal welfare organisation which was formed in 1967 to
campaign against 'factory farming.
Their publications are a useful resource.
http://www.ciwf.org.uk/resources/publications/default.aspx
Broom (1996) demonstrated that the number of pigs that
remain standing during transport is a relevant measure of
welfare in relation to the 'roughness' of the journey.
Assessment of welfare using physiological or bio-
chemical measures is also difficult as these may fluctuate
normally, for example, cortisone levels in most species
tend to be higher during the morning than in the after-
noon. However experimentally, measurement of heart
rate, respiratory rate and blood hormone level has been
shown to be useful.
As described later in this chapter, mortality, injury and
carcase damage such as skin damage in pigs or bruising
are often the most reliable indicators that an animal's
welfare has been compromised.
Loading and unloading
Loading and unloading are often the most stressful parts
of the transport process, for both animals and handlers.
For sheep and pigs, most authorities consider that with
good transport conditions, the stress of loading gradu-
ally dissipates over the first few hours of transport as the
animals become habituated to the transport.
It is imperative that proper thought and planning be
given to the procedure before commencing, to avoid the
need to use excessive force. For pigs in particular, a
proper loading ramp, especially if a lorry is being used, is
essential. However, very steep ramps are undesirable
because they distress the pigs, may lead to injuries
through falling and by increasing the need for coercion
tend to encourage the use of unacceptable force or elec-
tric goads.
Work carried out by Warriss
et al.
(1991), on 40-70 kg
live weight pigs, indicates that
ramp angles
up to 20°
appear to present few problems to pigs whether ascend-
ing or descending. Above 20°, there is a progressive
increase in the time and thus, by inference, the difficulty
with which the ramps are negotiated. Slopes of 30° and
above are, from a subjective point of view, obviously dif-
ficult for some individuals to ascend and, particularly, to
descend. When steep ramps are used, the spacing of the
cleats may become critical. If it is too wide, the ability of
the pigs to ascend may be particularly impaired. Philips,
Thompson and Fraser (1988) suggested that a ramp
sloped at 20-24° with cleats of 10-40 mm, spaced at a
distance of 50-100 mm, was a feasible design.
Lapworth (1990) describes minimum design stand-
ards applicable to cattle loading and unloading facilities
in Australia. He recommends that ramp floors should be
stepped or cleated. Stepped floors should be of concrete
with 100 mm rises and 500 mm treads. Cleats on wooden
or concrete floors should be 50 mm wide, 50 mm high
and 300 mm apart. A maximum slope of 20° is again
recommended.
Transportation of livestock
Having produced healthy livestock in good conditions,
and as clean as possible, it is necessary to keep them free
from contamination during the subsequent movement
to the point of slaughter. It is of equal importance that
they be kept free from injury, stress, loss of weight and
disease during the journey. For all these reasons, it is
essential that
livestock be slaughtered as close as possible
to the point of production
in order to avoid long journeys.
The humanitarian aspects of the transportation of ani-
mals are intimately linked with the economic ones, and
these are of particular consequence in the case of young
stock, pregnant stock and casualty animals. Work by
Warriss and Bevis (1986) and Warriss, Bevis and Young
(1990) in the south of England showed that the average
lamb, at two meat plants, spent over 4½ hours in transit
and travelled a distance of more than 200 km. Within the
United Kingdom, Warriss, Bevis and Young (1990) esti-
mated that 94% of slaughtered sheep spend less than 10
hours in transit. A survey conducted in 1985 found that
although three-quarters of all pigs were killed within
10 hours of leaving the farm, over 22% were killed after 8
hours and some not for 32 hours.
