Welfare Issues During
Handling Transport and Slaughter
Temple Grandin
Department of Animal Sciences
Colorado State University
Handling Issues
• People Not Trained and
Supervised
• Facility Problems
• Difficult to Handle Animals –
Producer Problem
Training People in Low Stress
Animal Handling
• Calm animals are easier to handle
• Teach behavioral principles, flight zone,
and point of balance
• An electric prod should never be used as a
person’s primary driving tool
• Most people can be trained to handle
animals, but a few people are not suitable
Flight Zone Principle
Point of Balance
A flag can be used to turn an
animal by blocking the
animal’s vision on one side
Paddle stick and small flag
for moving animals
Should Electric Prods Be Banned?
• My answer is “No”
• Electric prods should only be used on a
stubborn animal that refuses to move
and then put away
• Handlers should never constantly carry
an electric prod
• If banned, handler may resort to
abusive methods
Handling Tips to Reduce
Electric Prod Use
• For cattle and
pigs, fill crowd
pen half full
• Move separate
small groups of
cattle and pigs
• Sheep
continuous flow
large groups
Fixing Facility Problems That
Make Animals Difficult to Move
• Remove Distractions
• Block Vision of Things that
Cause Balking
• Non-slip Flooring
Distractions That Cause Balking
 High
Contrast
 Rapid Movement
Bright green hose may
cause animals to stop
Tie up loose chain ends
that scare animals
Blocking Vision of Distractions
Non-slip Flooring is Essential
• Animals get
agitated when
they slip
• Squeeze chutes,
stocks, scales,
unloading ramps
Steer coming out of
squeeze chute
Animals are Afraid of Dark Places
Adding a light at the restrainer entrance or making
other lighting changes that eliminate shiny
reflections will improve animal movement
% Pigs Electric Prodded
Electric Prod Use on Pigs Was Reduced By
Adding Lighting at the Restrainer Entrance
50
40
38
30
All handlers were
well trained and
only pigs that
balked or backed
up were prodded.
20
10
4
0
Dark Entrance
Well Lit Entrance
Causes of Hard to Handle Cattle
•
•
•
•
•
Lameness
Weak cull cows become non-ambulatory
Wild and excitable animals
Fed too much beta-agonist
Cattle handled exclusively on horseback
are dangerous to move by a handler on
foot
• Constant kicking in some cattle worked by
dogs
This pig has horrible legs
Producers should select for
sound feet and legs
Comparison of Electric Prod Use and
Squealing Between Easy-to-Drive Pigs
and Hard-to-Drive Pigs
Easy-to-Drive Pigs
100
85
Hard-to-Drive Pigs
Percent
80
60
40
20
20
20
4
0
% Electric Prodded
% Time Pigs Squealed
Holding Producers Accountable for
Handling Problems Will Reduce Them
• Slaughter plants reduced downers by
charging a handling fee
• Producers need to take responsibility
for welfare problems that they cause
• Less bruises when producers pay for
them
Causes of Hard to Handle Pigs
•
•
•
•
•
Producer never walked the pens
Lameness – Poor leg conformation
Weak from too much beta-agonist
Excitable genetics
PSS stress gene
Maintaining Good Handling
Practices
• Requires constant measurement
• Requires regular training and
retraining
• Requires management commitment
to good handling
Measurement System for
Monitoring Handling Faults
• Percentage of animals electric prodded
• Percentage falling
• Percentage moved faster than a walk or
trot
• Percentage vocalizing (bellow, squeal)
• Percentage hitting fences or gates
Measurement Prevents Bad
From Becoming Normal
• Can monitor whether procedures are
improving or becoming worse
• Set limits to determine passing score
AMI and OIE both 1% or less of the
animals falling
• High standards are possible
Perfect is not possible
Big Issue in Handling Downers
Most downer cattle can be prevented with
good management on the farm
Percentage of Beef Plants That Stunned
95% or More Cattle with the First Shot
100
90
80
90
90
91
94
1999
2000
2001
2002
70
60
50
40
30
20
30
10
0
1996
USDA
McDonald’s
survey prior
Audits
to industry
started
wide auditing
Continued auditing by major
customers
Continuous auditing maintains
good performance.
Video Auditing Over the
Internet Is Used Now
Welfare Issues at the
Slaughter Plant
•
•
•
•
•
•
Plants with high chain speeds
Do animals know they are getting slaughtered??
Religious slaughter without stunning
Fear of blood??
Stunner maintenance
Is a kicking animal hanging on the rail
conscious??
Part 313: Humane Slaughter
of Livestock Regulations
313.2 (2) The dragging of disabled animals and
other animals unable to move while conscious
is prohibited. Stunned animals may, however,
be dragged.
OIE (2008) Welfare Code – Conscious animals
should not be dragged, dropped or thrown
USDA/FSIS Has Increased
Enforcement of the Humane
Slaughter Acts
• Problems with uneven enforcement
due to vague regulations and
directives
• A directive on preventing
EXCESSIVE electric prod has
different interpretations
Typical Stunners in Beef Plants
 Pneumatic
captive bolt
 Cartridge fixed capture bolt
Typical Electric Stunners for
Sheep and Pigs
Are Plants with High
Chain Speeds Bad?
Percentage of cattle moved with an
electric prod at different line speeds
Line speed/hour
Less than 50
51-100
101-200
201-300
More than 300
Number of Plants
16
13
10
21
6
% Electric Prodded
20%
27%
12%
24%
25%
Grandin, 2005
Effect of Chain Speed on Animal
Handling and Stunning
• Exceeding the speed capacity of the
equipment causes abuse in both
large and small plants.
• Understaffing often causes abuse
• High line speed plants can be very
humane if designed properly
Does the Steer Know He
Is Getting Slaughtered??
I Observed Cattle Behavior at the
Plant and in Feed Yard Chutes and it
was the Same in Both Plants
Feedlot
Plant
Cortisol levels during restraint in
a head gate for blood testing
No other painful procedures were performed
Cortisol levels at the slaughter
plant were similar to
on-farm handling
Fear was the main stressor
Stress levels at a well-run
slaughter plant are similar to
handling on a feedlot or ranch
There Are Two Issues in
Religious Slaughter
• How the animal is held and handled
• Slaughter without stunning
The biggest welfare issue is
the restraint method
Some plants still use cruel shackling and
hoisting for restraining the animal.
Legal under an exemption in the
Humane Slaughter Act
OIE 2008 Animal Welfare Code
Methods of restraint causing avoidable suffering should not be used in
conscious animals because they cause severe pain and stress:
• suspending or hoisting animals (other than poultry) by the feet or legs;
• indiscriminate and inappropriate use of stunning equipment;
• mechanical clamping of the legs or feet of the animals (other than
shackles used in poultry and ostriches) as the sole method of restraint;
• breaking legs, cutting leg tendons, or blinding an animal to immobilize
them;
• severing the spinal cord. For example using a puntilla or dagger to
immobilize animals, using electric currents to immobilize animals except
for paper stunning.
Head restraint device for
kosher or halal slaughter
The animal is held in a
comfortable upright position
Long Special Knife for
Kosher Slaughter
Time to Eye Rollback and
Collapse at a Kosher Plant
Good
Technique
Poor
Technique
Avg. time to
collapse
17 seconds
33 seconds
Longest time
38 seconds
120 seconds
94%
68%
Percentage
collapsed in 30
seconds
Is Stunning Allowed for
Religious Slaughter?
• Glatt Kosher – No
• Regular Kosher – Yes, after the
cut
• Halal – Will often allow stunning
before cut
Are Animal Afraid of Blood?
• Steers and heifers walk calmly
into a box covered with blood
• Blood, saliva, or urine from highly
stressed animals is avoided in
cattle, pigs, and rodents
Cause of Captive Bolt Stunner
Problems in Order of Importance
1. Lack of Maintenance
2. Damp Cartridges
3. Lack of Operator Training
Understanding
Assessing
Insensibility
• Kicking occurs in
unconscious,
insensible
animals
• It will still kick
even if the head
is removed
Transport Issues
•
•
•
•
•
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Fitness for Travel – Big Number 1
Cold Stress
Heat Stress
Hauled Long Distances
Overloaded Vehicles
Bruises, Death Losses
Unfit Animals for Transport
•
•
•
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Weak cull animals
Can barely walk – lame
Weak from too much beta-agonist
Freshly weaned “bawling” weaned on
truck in calves
• Neonatal dairy calves unless transported
to specialized calf raising facility
Cold Stress
Wind Chill Kills
• Wind chill factors greatly lower
temperature
• Freezing rain is deadly
• Winter close up truck
• Dry cold
Heat Stress
• Heat builds up rapidly in a stationary
vehicle
• Keep trucks moving
• If stationary, provide fans or
sprinklers
Long Distance Transport
• Cull cows in some regions transported
long distances
• Lack of local slaughter plants
• Calves raised in southeast travel 1,000 to
2,000 miles to feedlots
• Spent hens – no local slaughter plants
Bruises, Death Losses,
Broken Wings
• Reduce damage with incentive pay for
handlers and transporters
• Bonuses and deductions from producer –
Pay reduces losses
• Paying loaders and handlers on a “piece
work” basis increases damage and it
provides the wrong incentives
Rough
Handling
Doubles the
Amount of
Bruising
Bruised meat
must be cut out
and cannot be
used for human
consumption
People want the new
technology, computer or
drugs more than they want
improve management
Management requires
attention to detail – Not
a “quick fix
Attitude of
management is the
single biggest factor
that determines how
animals are treated
www.Grandin.com