TROUBLED WATERS - Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society

affect an immediate and thereby lawful stun. Killing methods used during whaling aim to bringabout death by one of the following processes: direct disruption of the brain nervous tissue or heartmuscle by projectiles, hypovolaemic shock from blood loss through injury, ischaemia (inadequateblood supply to an organ or tissue) or neurotrama caused by the blast-generated pressure waves fromexploding penthrite (Knudsen and Øen 2003). However, efficiency of the slaughter method dependsentirely on the shot placement and how well the weapon used is adapted for the species taken (Anon2003b). In comparison to the degree of precision required in many states for the slaughter of foodanimals, the methods used during whaling are substandard. For example, during whaling operationsblood loss occurs as the result of various combined injuries, rather than the accurate severing ofmajor blood vessels.Some methods for religious slaughter of animals are legal in a number of countries including the UK,for example, which as a special exception omits the requirement to stun animals prior toexsanguination. Nonetheless, there are still legal safeguards to ensure that this type of slaughter iscarried out without prolonged suffering. This includes methods for restraining the animal beforeslaughter, ensuring that a captive bolt instrument is available for use in cases where an animal may besubject to avoidable pain and suffering or may be agitated or injured. In cases where stunning doesnot precede religious slaughter, the knife must be inspected before each incision to check that it issufficiently sharp and it must be ensured that both the carotid arteries and jugular veins are severed.Such provisions for the welfare of these slaughtered animals again exceed those of current whalingpractices.98A REVIEW OF THE WELFARE IMPLICATIONS OF MODERN WHALING ACTIVITIESGuarantee of non-recovery from stunning until death ensuesPre-slaughter stunning has been legally defined as “any process which, when applied to an animal,causes immediate loss of consciousness which lasts until death” (EU, 1993). In a two-stage slaughterprocess, the death of the animal is brought about by severing the major blood vessels to cause bloodloss or by irreversible destruction of the function of the brain or spinal cord. To bring about humaneslaughter through bleeding, it is essential that once an animal is stunned, it is bled as quickly aspossible to prevent recovery before or during the bleeding process (Wotton, 2001). Alternatively, thestun/kill method may be used, when the electrical current is applied both to the head and to thechest to cause both insensibility and cardiac arrest (Druce and Lymbery 2002). There are currentlyno practices exercised during whaling operations that would categorically ensure that the animals arestunned and therefore insensible to the pain from the commencement of the slaughter process.Scientific and practical studies have identified methodologies for recognising an effective stun inlivestock animals. Following an effective captive bolt stun, for example, the animal shouldimmediately collapse, become rigid, and its eyes should have a fixed, glazed appearance. There shouldbe no positive corneal (eye) reflex and no rhythmic breathing. For electric stunning methods, aneffective stun is indicated by the presence of epileptic fitting, no rhythmic breathing, rotation of theeyes, and uncontrolled involuntary motor activity (kicking) (Wotton, 2001). These methods can beused to ensure that animals are stunned effectively and remain unconscious until dead.During the 1980 Workshop on Humane Killing Techniques for Whales, the IWC adopted thefollowing criteria for determining death during whaling operations: relaxation of the lower jaw or noflipper movement or sinking without active movement (Anon 1980). Various interpretations of thesecriteria have subsequently been made (Butterworth et al. 2003). The assessment of death using these