Preslaughter handling and slaughter of meat animals
Citation
L. Faucitano (ed.) – Preslaughter handling and slaughter of meet animals
DOI 10.3920/978-90-8686-924-4_2, © Wageningen Academic Publishers 2022
Plain language summary
Animal welfare, food safety and quality are major issues in the production of food animals. A
combination of factors including animal (i.e. genetics, temperament, age and sex), stockperson/
driver/slaughterhouse personnel (i.e. experience, training, attitudes and empathy) and environment
(i.e. climate, facilities, production systems and equipment) can increase or reduce the physical,
physiological and emotional stress imposed on cattle at all stages prior to and at slaughter. These
stages include handling on the farm, loading, transport, unloading at the slaughter plant, lairage,
stunning and/or slaughter. In this chapter we discuss these factors and their relationship to cattle
welfare. In most cases, reduced welfare during any of the pre-slaughter stages can negatively impact
the quantity and quality of the meat produced. More specifically, carcass condemnations, reduced
carcass yield, trimming of bruised meat and quality defects like dark cutting meat all contribute
to discounts that are passed onto the producer. It is of utmost importance that cattle producers,
stockpersons, livestock transporters and slaughterhouse personnel can assure high standards of
animal welfare from farm to slaughter, as demanded by today’s consumers.
Abstract
Animal welfare, food safety and quality are major issues in the production of food animals. A
combination of factors including animal (i.e. genetics, temperament, age and sex), stockperson/
driver/slaughterhouse personnel (i.e. experience, training, attitudes and empathy) and environment
(i.e. climate, facilities, production systems and equipment) can increase or reduce the physical,
physiological and emotional stress imposed on cattle at all stages prior to and at slaughter. These
stages include handling on the farm, loading, transport, unloading at the slaughter plant, lairage,
stunning and/or slaughter. In this chapter we discuss these factors and their relationship to cattle
welfare. In most cases, reduced welfare during any of the pre-slaughter stages can negatively impact
the quantity and quality of the meat produced. More specifically, carcass condemnations, reduced
carcass yield, trimming of bruised meat and quality defects like dark cutting meat all contribute
to discounts that are passed onto the producer. It is of utmost importance that cattle producers,
stockpersons, livestock transporters and slaughterhouse personnel can assure high standards of
animal welfare from farm to slaughter, as demanded by today’s consumers.