Humane slaughter - Gracey's Meat Hygiene - page 133

4 do not show signs of avoidable pain or fear or exhibit
abnormal behaviour;
5 do not suffer from prolonged withdrawal of feed or
water; and
6 are prevented from avoidable interaction with other
animals that could harm their welfare.

race, the preference most animals have to walk up rather
than down a slope and the movement of pigs in opti-
mum-sized groups of about 15 individuals are all exam-
ples of good practices. The theory of moving animals
within the lairage is dealt with in detail in Chapter 6.

Cattle movement and restraint
Cattle are usually moved from the pens in the lairage to
the stunning box via a solid-walled race. Cattle have been
shown to move more readily along a race with curved
walls . A raised walkway along one side assists the han-
dlers in their effort to keep the animals moving. The ani-
mal should spend the minimum possible time in the
actual stunning box where they are finally isolated from
their cohorts. They should not be moved into the box
until the operative responsible for the stunning proce-
dure signals that they are ready to stun the animal.

In addition to the above requirements, establishments
slaughtering more than 1000 livestock units/year, that is,
more than 1 000 cattle, or 150 000 poultry, or equivalent,
are required to designate an 'animal welfare officer'(AWO)
to assist in ensuring that animal welfare standards are
met. The AWO will be directly responsible to the opera-
tor of the establishment for animal welfare matters and
must hold a certificate of competence in all the opera-
tions he/she oversees, having received training from the
competent authority in the learning objectives laid out in
EC 1099/2009 and having passed an examination. An
important provision of the regulation is that the AWO
shall be in a position to require that slaughterhouse per-
sonnel carry out any remedial actions necessary to
ensure compliance with the regulation.
However, while it is correct that the responsibility for
welfare of the animals lies with the operator of an estab-
lishment, the Official Veterinarian maintains his/her
role of verification, audit and enforcement of the required
animal welfare standards.
No legislation is of any value unless it clearly incorpo-
rates the ethic that the quest for production must never
take precedence over the far more important issues of
hygiene, meat safety and animal welfare .

Cattle head restraint
There have been a number of types of head restraint for
cattle used to present the head of the animal in a position
to assist accurate stunning, but a simple shelf which
extends to the floor of the stunning box, preventing the
animal dropping its head, seems to be the most success-
ful. However, with all head restraints, smaller than aver-
age animals present problems by having sufficient space
within the stunning box to position themselves in such a
way as to avoid the restraint system. This can be over-
come by the provision of a hydraulically operated tail
pusher in the back of the box. Personal observations of
these mechanisms have shown that, if incorrectly used to
force cattle into this head restraint, the animal's spine can
be fractured by the pressures applied. Pneumatic head
restraints and tail pushers can also be problematic as the
noise of escaping air can frighten the animal.
The positioning of lights above the animal's head to
attract its attention is reported as being a useful addition
in maintaining the head in a raised position.
Ewbank, Parker and Mason (1992) reported on the
use of active head restraints at slaughter and concluded
that 'while the introduction of head restraint devices into
cattle stunning pens had a positive effect in terms of
improving the stunning accuracy, behaviour and cortisol
results suggest that enforced usage of this type of head
restrainer could be a cause of distress to the cattle
involved. The fixed shelf-restraint was found to improve
the accuracy of stunning without increasing the length
of time the animal spent in the stunning box and without
causing the animal increased stress.
A head restrainer, which prevents lateral and vertical
movement, is a necessity if a pneumatic captive bolt is
used to stun cattle in order to ensure accuracy of
application.

Pre-slaughter handling/restraint
It is generally regarded as undesirable that an animal
awaiting slaughter should view the slaughtering process.
While the higher animals undoubtedly share some sen-
sations with human beings, it is questionable whether
any trepidation is felt specifically by an animal at the
sight and smell of blood. Nevertheless, fear is undoubt-
edly engendered by strange noises, movements, sur-
roundings and smells, and this fear is accentuated by the
separation of the animal from its fellows and the conse-
quent disappearance of the feeling of protection that a
gregarious animal enjoys in the presence of its comrades.
Group stunning, for example, for sheep utilising low-
voltage head-only electrical tongs, can reduce the isola-
tion factor; however, it must not be allowed to compromise
the stun-to-stick interval.
The design of the handling facility in the lairage which
delivers the animals to the point of slaughter should uti-
lise knowledge of animal behaviour to reduce the fear or
apprehension felt by the animal to a minimum. The ten-
dency for one sheep to follow its comrade up a single file