Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
reactor cattle are being slaughtered, so that appropriate
health and safety measures can be taken. In the United
Kingdom, the action to be taken in the event of each
condition being identified should be assessed and writ-
ten down under the 'Control of Substances Hazardous to
Health Regulations 2002' which are a series of statutory
regulations made under the framework of the Health
and Safety at Work Act 1974.
The
animal health
aspect requires the veterinarian to
identify
notifiable disease
. It is recognised within the
state veterinary service that it is likely that a serious epi-
zootic, such as foot-and-mouth disease or swine fever,
will first be recognised at an abattoir, as was the case in
the UK 2001 foot and mouth outbreak.
The ante-mortem procedure allows the veterinarian
to assess the
welfare
implications of the structures and
procedures within the lairage. In the ideal situation, this
would involve
inspections on the farm of origin
, during
transport, as well as in the lairage prior to death.
Following inspection, the veterinarian may make one
of the following five decisions:
Ante-mortem inspection procedure in the
slaughter establishment
Animals must undergo veterinary ante-mortem
inspection on the day of their arrival at the slaughter-
house or before the beginning of daily slaughtering.
The inspection must be repeated immediately before
slaughter if the animal has been in the lairage over-
night. The operator of the slaughterhouse must facili-
tate operations for performing ante-mortem health
inspections and in particular any handling which is
considered necessary.
In summary, the inspection must determine:
1
Whether the animals are suffering from a disease
which is communicable to man and to animals or
whether they show symptoms or are in a general con-
dition such as to indicate that such a disease may
occur.
2
Whether they show symptoms of disease or of a disor-
der of their general condition which is likely to make
their meat unfit for human consumption; attention
must also be paid to any signs that the animals have
had any substances with pharmacological effects
administered to them or have consumed any other
substances which may make their meat harmful to
human health.
3
Whether they are tired, agitated or injured.
4
Whether they are sufficiently clean to enter the nor-
mal slaughter protocol.
1
Animals may progress for normal slaughter.
2
Animals should not enter the plant or should be con-
demned ante-mortem. In this group, they will be dead,
moribund, emaciated or excessively dirty animals and
those showing evidence of a septicaemia or other con-
ditions which would result in the meat being unfit for
human consumption.
3
Animals should be slaughtered but may need a special
detailed post-mortem examination, or may need to be
slaughtered in a special area or at a different time from
other animals, owing perhaps to a localised infection
or suspicion of a more generalised condition. Animals
suspected of being treated with illegal drugs for the
purposes of growth promotion, or of having residues
of therapeutic substances, may be included in this
group. Emergency on-farm slaughtered cases will
require particular attention.
4
Stock should be segregated for slaughter under special
conditions, for example, dirty stock at a slow line
speed.
5
Slaughter may be delayed, for example, for excessively
fatigued or excited animals or those requiring
treatment.
Where the post-mortem inspection is necessary in
order to make a diagnosis, the official veterinarian shall
request that the animals in question are slaughtered sep-
arately or at the end of normal slaughtering.
A system of communication of ante-mortem findings
to those carrying out the post-mortem findings is essen-
tial in order to ensure that post-mortem inspection is
supplemented by additional detailed inspection, palpa-
tion or incisions, or if the veterinarian considers it neces-
sary for confirmation, by an appropriate bacteriological
examination and a search for residues of substances with
a pharmacological effect which may be presumed to
have been administered to treat the pathological state
observed.
For
public health
purposes, the veterinarian must sep-
arate normal animals from those which may be suffering
from a potentially zoonotic disease or present a hygiene
risk to the slaughterhall environment owing to the soiled
condition of their hide/fleece. Animals which may con-
tain residues of pharmaceutical product must be detained
for testing post-mortem.
It is also very important that the workers within the
abattoir are alerted to the presence of any
zoonotic condi-
tion
, such as orf or ringworm, or where brucellosis or TB
For reasons of animal health, animals should only be
allowed to leave the lairage, for example, to return home,
under the most exceptional circumstances and under
animal health restrictions. An alternative is to consign
them to another abattoir, with the capacity and approvals
to slaughter them. This is the only option permitted
under EU law - Regulation 854/2004, Annex I, Section
II, Chapter III (8).
