Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines and Audit Guide

Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines and Audit Guide 2007 EditionSection 8: Recommended Handling of Disabled orCrippled LivestockAggressive handling can lead to injured, stressed orfatigued livestock. Although non-ambulatory animals(sometimes called “downers, slows or subjects”) representa small fraction of all livestock arriving at packingplants, they are significant because they require specialattention in the areas of handling, transporting, holdingpens and inspection. Trucks carrying non-ambulatorylivestock should park as close to the slaughter area aspossible and disabled animals should be inspected by aUSDA veterinarian, stunned and either condemned ormoved to slaughter quickly.Since December 30, 2003, all non-ambulatory cattlearriving at packing plants are to be condemned. Nonambulatorypigs may be slaughtered if inspected andpassed by a USDA veterinarian.A well-designed cart for movingcrippled livestock.Non-Ambulatory CattleMany incidents of non-ambulatory cattle can be prevented by better management at the dairyor ranch. If non-ambulatory cattle arrive on trucks, offload ambulatory cattle first, taking carenot to compromise the non-ambulatory animals. Non-ambulatory cattle should be stunned witha captive bolt stunner on the truck and disposed of.If a steer or cow becomes non-ambulatory after it has passed ante mortem inspection, the USDAveterinarian will make a decision about whether the animal must be condemned, or whether itmay proceed to slaughter.If a steer or cow – or any animal—becomes non-ambulatory in the single file chute that leads tothe stunner, it must be stunned prior to dragging. A cartridge-fired captive bolt on a long handleis recommended. If blood gets on the chute, wash it off to prevent balking.Mounting activity and animal fights can cause injuries that can cause animals to become non-ambulatory.This is a problem especially with bulls and boars. Bulls that are mounting other animalsshould be placed in separate pens. Mounting by bulls is a common cause of bruises and cripplinginjuries on cows. Producers need to work to reduce the occurrence of non-ambulatory animalsthat are caused by either poor management or neglect.Non-Ambulatory PigsThere are two basic types of non-ambulatory pigs. The first type is those that are in a poor physicalstate before leaving the farm, often older breeding stock. Another type is a fatigued pig that37AMIHandlingSlaughterGuidelines07.1AMIJune 11, 2007