FROM FARM TO SLAUGHTER
1. HYGIENIC PRODUCTION OF FOOD OF ANIMAL ORIGIN
 modern meat hygiene systems: entire process of production and processing (from farm to table)
-
first step: primary production  farm  farmers
can contribute to food safety and quality by
producing clean, healthy and unstressed animals
for slaughter
 cleanliness of animals
-
dung: important source of contamination
-
monitoring of husbandry practices
-

housing structure and layout

bedding

housing density

management
transportation

excessively dungy animals cleaned before

animals
do
not
get
dirty
during
transportation
-
at slaughterhouse

cleaning before slaughter (if dung can
be removed)

slaughter
in
the
sanitary
slaughter
department (if dung cannot be removed)
or in the common slaughter room after
2
the
slaughter
of
clean
animals
(inspection official veterinarian)
 healthy animals
-
nutrition, preventive veterinary programmes
-
proper use of drugs and feed additives

approved products

withdrawal periods

site of injection  abscesses, necrosis
 unnecessary pain
 partial condemnation
 animal welfare (“unstressed” animals)
-
meat quality
-
consumer requirement: animal welfare-friendly
products
-
basic elements (five “freedoms”)

freedom
from
thirst,
hunger
and
malnutrion

appropriate comfort and shelter

prevention
or
rapid
diagnosis
and
treatment
of
injury,
disease
and
infestation

freedom from fear and distress

freedom
to
display
patterns of behaviour
most
common
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2. TRANSPORTATION OF ANIMALS TO THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE
 means of transport
-
most common: road vehicle, though it is known
that this is worse for animals than rail, see or air
transport
increasing distances
-
transport by train: not common (transport to a
station, reloading  adverse effects + lengthened
journey)
-
air transport: expensive
(breeding animals, day-old chicks)
-
sea transport: generally not used for transport to
the slaughterhouse
 welfare
-
transport and handling, always have some adverse
effects on the welfare (animals not conditioned to
them)
-
factors affecting welfare during transport (see
figure)
-
consequences: injuries, effects on the carcass of
slaughtered animals, effects on the health of
animals which are not immediately slaughtered 
welfare and health may markedly be disturbed
during transport
4
-
death: most detrimental effect

stress  stimulation of hormones via
the
pituitary-adrenal
system
(glucocorticoids) + the sympatheticadrenal
medullary
system
(catecholamines)  behaviourial and
clinical deviations  exhaustion

death rate: 0.01% cattle
0.1-0.3% pigs
0.4-1.3% broilers
-
diseases related to transport (public and animal
health)

shipping fever – cattle, long journey,
(Parinfluenza-3, P. haemolytica,
mycoplasma),
acute,
toxaemic
bronchopneumonia, often fatal

porcine stress syndrome – initiated by
stress, abnormalities in skeletal muscle
calcium kinetics, elevated muscle heat
production,
hyperventillation,
meat
muscle
fever,
tremors,
death;
PSE
5
salmonellosis
–
young
animals
(calves,
lambs),
precipitated by transport stress, latent
infection  acute form
–
pigs,
poultry:
marked
increase
in
excretion after transport rapid passage of
faecal material in response to transport
stress
-
injuries and bruising: commonly in all species at
collecting, loading, unloading, passage ways,
containers
-
loss of weight: some loss of live-weight is normal
due to loss of water by sweating, and respiration +
waste materials in faeces and urine,
influencing
factors:
body
condition,
season,
journey time, fasting and watering; rate in pigs: 2-5
kg/24 h
 loading and unloading
-
most stressful parts of transport
-
climbing a loading ramp
 easy for horses, cattle, sheep when ramp
design and handling procedures good
 pigs – difficult  often refuse to try  heart
rate increases, rapid death
–
slope of the loading ramp < 15-20o
6
– poultry
–
mostly
picked
up/collected:
manually by their legs  injuries up to 30%
mechanical collection: less adverse effects
 treatment during transport
-
feeding and watering
 feed withdrawal before transport
pigs: for the night before transport 
stomach full  vomiting  choking
other advantages: less labour at slaughter,
less contamination of the carcass, less
spillage of the cut contents, lower percentage
of PSE meat
poultry: also recommended but only for some
hours (max. 12h)
 feeding and watering during transport
- pigs:
should be watered each 8h; transport
should be limited to 24h
- poultry: difficult to feed and water during
transport  8h limit of transport time
- cattle, horses: fed and watered until the start
of the journey and again each 8h
- sheep: domesticated in dry areas, it able to
scope better with lack of water than
other species. Kept on deep litter (straw,
hay), sheep nibbling this for max. 24h
7
-
loading density
 requirements: animals must be able to stand in
their natural position and all must be able to lie
down at the same time
 major effect on animal welfare and postmortem meat quality (PSE)
 recommendations (see figure)
-
microclimate
 affects animal welfare
 ventilating of the containers via vents
 pigs: optimum temperature and air velocity
16oC and 0.2 m/s, respectively
 handling during transit or lairage
-
unloading
at
the
transit
station
or
at
the
slaughterhouse: carefully and as soon as possible
 loading ramps – height of the deck 
descending problems
 passage ways – solid without channels
– floors not slippery
– from dark to lighter place
– width : 4-5 pigs side by side
 electric goads – common  cause stress 
should be banned
 excessive noise – stressful (pigs)
-
waiting pens
 in transit stations: horses, cattle, sheep to be
8
watered and fed
in hot conditions pigs to be
showered, to rest a few
hours
 resting before slaughter: 2-4 h for pigs 
 PSE meat
longer resting time 
 DFD
loading density of
2 pigs/m2
recommended
 cleaning and disinfection of transport vehicles
 facilities in the lairage required for ante-mortem inspection
1. a race, with a crush gate for cattle, where the animal
can be identified;
2. an adequate number of well-lit pens, with a system for
identification or numbering of pens; for inspection
purposes, a light intensity of 220 lux is necessary;
3. an isolation pen, with facilities for examination of
individual animals;
4. competent
lairage
staff
to
assist
with
the
identification, movement and examination of animals;
and
5. an office for the use of the veterinarian is useful for
the completion of records.
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3. ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION
 legal requirement
-
veterinary inspection of the live animal prior to
slaughter is a basic requirement of most meat
inspection systems former EU:
-
EU: 64/433/EEC, present EU: See in 2.1.
1. Animals must undergo ante-mortem inspection
within 24 hours of arrival and less than 24 hours
before slaughter and at any time if required by
the official veterinarian
2. The official veterinarian must make the antemortem
inspection
in
accordance
with
professional rules and under suitable lighting
and check on compliance with community rules
on animal welfare
3. The inspection must determine:
(a)
whether
symptoms
the
of
animals
a
are
disease
showing
which
is
communicable to man and to animals or
whether there are any indications that
such a disease may occur;
(b) whether they show symptoms of disease
or of a disorder of their general conditions
that would be likely to make the meat unfit
for human consumption;
10
(c)
whether
there
is
any
evidence
that
substances with pharmacological effects
have been administered to the animals or
that
they
have
consumed
any
other
substances that may take their meat unfit
for human consumption;
(d) whether they are tired, agitated or injured.
4. (a) Animals must not be slaughtered for human
consumption
if
they
show
any
conditions
mentioned in points 3(a), (b) and (c).
(b) Slaughter of animals suspected of suffering
from one of the diseases referred to in points 3(a)
(b) and (c) must be deferred. These animals must
undergo detailed examination in order to make a
diagnosis. Where the post-mortem inspection is
necessary to make a diagnosis, the official
veterinarian shall request that the animals in
question are slaughtered separately or at the end
of normal slaughtering.
(c) Tired or agitated animals must be rested for at
least 24 hours unless the official veterinarian
decides otherwise.
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 objectives
-
protection of public health from microbial and
chemical hazards due to consumption of unfit
meat;
-
protection of livestock against spread of infectious
diseases, especially notifiable diseases;
-
improvement of herd health and hygiene status
through feedback of animal disease data to the
farms of origin;
-
protection of animal and food handlers and
workers against zoonoses;
-
prevention of contamination of meat, premises,
equipment and personnel by excessively dirty
animals
-
ensuring high standards of animal welfare and
decrease of losses by efficient handling of animals
before and at slaughter

full ante-mortem inspection makes the postmortem examination much more efficient and
less laborious
+ delivers essential information about herd
health and animal welfare (“largest diagnostic
laboratory”)
12
 ante-mortem procedure
-
in the meat plant

within 24 hours of arrival and 24 hours before
slaughter (on the day of arrival and repeatidly
before slaughter if the animal had been in the
lairage overnight)

livestock in the lairage should be inspected at
rest and while in motion  simple to carry out while
animals are being unloaded  excited state may
mask some conditions (mild lameness)  second
check necessary

sick or suspect diseased animals or those in
poor condition  species, sex, age, condition,
markings, identification number to be recorded

behaviour,
nutrition,
cleanliness,
signs
of
diseases, any abnormalities  to be observed and
recorded

segregation of diseased and suspect stock,
females in oestrus, aggressive animals and horned
stock + unacceptably dirty animals

animals
showing
localised
abnormalities
(injuries, fractures, abscesses)  segregated and
detailed examination  slaughtered with normal
animals if abnormality minor or slaughtered at the
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end of day’s kill or separately + thorough postmortem examination

sick animals  temperature to be taken  pigs
 41oC , cattle, sheep  40.5oC  isolation until
temperature ; if they are slaughtered while
suffering from this degree fever  carcase will be
congested and require invariably condemnation 
animals showing signs of systemic disturbance and
 temperature should not be slaughtered but
retained
for
treatment
preferably
outside
the
slaughterhouse

poultry  same general principles apply to as
for larger animals; possibly examination on the farm

effective reporting system from the ante-
mortem area to the post-mortem inspectors
- on the farm

trends
for
extending
the
ante-mortem
procedure back to the farm of origin

mainly poultry and pigs (other species)

field veterinarian who is conversant with herd
health status can decide which animals are fit for
slaughter

simplified inspection in the meat plant
14
 decisions which may be made by the official veterinarian
1. Animals may progress for normal slaughter
2. Animals should not enter the plant or should be
condemned ante-mortem (dead, moribund, emaciated,
excessively dirty, septicaemia or other conditions
which would result in the meat being unfit for human
consumption)
3. Animals should be slaughtered but may need special
detailed
post-mortem
examination
or
to
be
slaughtered in a special area or at different time from
other animals (localised infections, certain generalised
conditions, treatment with illegal drugs, drug residues,
emergency on-farm slaughtered animals)
4. Slaughter
animals
delayed
or
for
(excessively
those
fatigued,
requiring
exited
treatment,
lack/imperfect documentation)
5. Slaughter under special conditions (dirty stock at a
low line speed)
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4. CASUALTY AND EMERGENCY SLAUGHTER
 Terms
-
Emergency slaughter: required when an animal is
in acute pain or is suffering from a condition where
a delay in slaughter would be contrary to animal
welfare, always providing that the carcase should
not present any hazard to the consumer (e.g.,
fractures, severe injuries, uterine prolapse, postpartum uterine haemorrhage in the bovine)
-
Casualty slaughter: refers to situations where an
animal is not in acute pain or immediate danger of
death, but affected with a more chronic condition
(e.g., joint diseases, claw disease, reticular foreign
bodies,
circulatory
disease,
post-partum
paraplegia following milk fever)
-
often the two terms used synonymously (UK most
abnormal animals  casualty)
-
on-farm decision
 decision whether it is possible to transport the
animal to the slaughterhouse without suffering
unnecessary distress  welfare aspect
- animals may not be pushed by any means or
lifted by mechanical devices, unless it is done
in the presence and under the supervision of
16
the veterinary practitioner (e.g., adult bovines
 can walk on and off the transport an bear
weight during transport)
 other aspect to be considered: suitability of the
animal for food
- animal species, nature of animal’s affliction,
drug treatment, recumbency time, etc.
 when decision has been made  animal is
suitable
candidate
for
transport

arrangements with the management of the
nearest meat plant that they will accept it
-
causalties at the meat plant
 ante-mortem
inspection
and
slaughter
immediately on arrival or isolated in the lairage
provided for diseased and injured animals
 slaughter: in separated causalty slaughter
facilities (if available)
or at the and of the day’s kill
or
before
a
break
when
the
slaughterhall and equipment are
cleaned and disinfected
 special attention of the meat hygiene team 
much higher danger  most carcases from
causalty animals must receive bacteriological
and residue monitoring
17
-
on-farm emergency slaughter
 where an animal is otherwise healthy but
requires on-farm emergency slaughter (e.g.,
limb
fracture,
uncontrollable
haemorrhage,
severe pain)  animal may be humanely
slaughtered on the farm and the carcase
transferred to the abattoir
 provisions:
- animal must be bled
- has undergone an ante-mortem inspection
- veterinary certificate
- the body of the animal has not been dressed
- transport: within 1 h of slaughter, or if it is not
possible, in a container at a temperature
between 0oC and 4oC
 pivotal role of the veterinary practitioner on the
farm
 recording all findings
 humane slaughter
 efficient and hygienic bleeding
 hygienic and immediate transport
to the abattoir
 communication with the veterinary
colleagues in the abattoir
18
- on-farm-emergency-slaughtered animals at the abattoir

on arrival certificate must be given to the official
veterinarian

checking the certificate and the carcase

immediate skinning and dressing

post-mortem inspection
-
checking for satisfactory bleeding
-
possible autolytic changes in soft tissue organs
-
observe the results of bacteriological and residue
tests
- animals which arrive dead at the abattoir
 animals which arrive at the meat plant dead and
without
certification

should
not
entered/dressed
 all should be checked for anthrax
- observation of the dead animal
- colour of the blood (dark, tarry)
 carcases must be removed from the abattoir
be