Animal welfare: Welfare during handling, transport and
slaughter
Author: Prof Cheryl McCrindle
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license.
Introduction
standards published by NAWAC, include design of the
The European Union (EU) “Strategy for the Protection
conveyance or container, ventilation, loading and
and Welfare of Animals” (2012 -2015) seeks to improve
unloading facilities, journey documentation, selection
how Europe’s 2 billion broilers, egg-laying hens and
and preparation of animals for transport, monitoring,
turkeys, and 300 million cows, pigs, goats and sheep,
feeding and watering during transport and emergency
are housed, fed, transported and slaughtered. It is not
humane destruction.
entirely clear how this will be achieved as not all
member states implement the same welfare standards.
The International Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)
set up an international working group on Animal
Welfare in 2002. Guidelines for humane slaughter and
transport are laid down in the Terrestrial Animal Code
(Chapter 7). Humane codes for handling, managing
and transporting livestock and farmed deer have also
been published by the National Animal Welfare
Advisory Committee (NAWAC) of the New Zealand
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF).
Handling facilities for cattle are made from available materials
in Africa.
Handling
Animal handlers should be experienced and competent
in handling and moving animals and recognise
behaviour patterns of different species. Sufficient
handlers should be present. They should know about
flight zones and understand the principles of moving
animals by using the point of balance.
Transport
Transport of animals by land, sea and air is covered by
the OIE Terrestrial Animal Code. The overriding
principle is that the amount of time animals spend on a
journey should be kept to the minimum. Transport
Handling cattle in a crush pen that is strong and well-built
prevents injury to the animal and the handler
Slaughter
Other relevant modules
The OIE guidelines for humane slaughter of livestock
 Animal welfare: How and why we measure animal
apply to both the pre-slaughter and slaughter period,
until the animal is dead. They apply to slaughter in and
outside of slaughterhouses and include cattle, buffalo,
bison, sheep, goats, camelids, horses, pigs, ratites,
rabbits and poultry. Humane slaughter of farmed deer
is well described in a publication by NAWAC, New
Zealand. In South Africa the criteria for humane culling
of game animals are laid down by the State Veterinary
Services. Internationally registered abattoirs include
preslaughter and slaughter practices for livestock in
their Hygiene Assessment Systems and use audits to
assess compliance.
Find out more
This module not only discusses the international
standards
for
humane
handling,
transport
and
slaughter of livestock, but interrogates how these
norms are being implemented and monitored. For
example, despite stringent EU and OIE guidelines on
humane transport, the World Society for the Protection
of Animals published a book about flagrant disregard
for animal welfare during long distance transport in
2008.
Religious slaughter is frequently practiced
outside of abattoirs and is not monitored. In Africa and
the Middle East, most goats are slaughtered informally.
There is also the question of methods used for hunting
wildlife and whether bows are less or more humane
that rifles. Reasons for stunning prior to exsanguination
will also be examined and newer electronic methods
discussed.
The videos on the playlist “Welfare on Hub” can be
viewed, and will be discussed in the Welfare
modules.
welfare in livestock and wildlife
 Animal
welfare:
development
at
Animal
the
welfare
and
rural
human-wildlife-livestock
interface
 Animal welfare: Infectious and production diseases
that compromise livestock/wildlife welfare
 Animal
welfare:
International
livestock/wildlife welfare standards.
trade
and