Humane-Slaughter-Guidelines

Design of Facilities and Slaughter Process
D1 Handling Procedures at Slaughter
Plants for Hoofstock
D1.1 Step 1—Arrival at the Plant
The normal process is for the animals to be unloaded
promptly after a vehicle arrives at the plant. In
the best operations, the vehicles are unloaded within
15 to 60 minutes after arrival, and industry guidelines
recommend a maximum wait time of 60 minutes. 1 This
requires the scheduling of an appointment between the
plant and transporter. Scheduling vehicle arrival times
prevents the problem of too many vehicles arriving at
the same time, which results in long lines and delays at
unloading. During hot weather, delayed unloading can
result in severe animal welfare problems due to heat
stress. Death losses in pigs increase as the internal temperature
of the trailer increases. 2 Figure 1 shows the
step-by-step flow of animals through the plant.
D1.1.1 Detection of problems
There have been unfortunate cases where many
cattle or pigs have died while waiting an entire day to
unload. This serious problem is most likely to occur
when there is an emergency condition such as a power
failure or storm, which either shuts down the plant or
makes roads impassable.
D1.1.2 Corrective action for problems
It is best practice to have an emergency program either
to divert incoming trucks to other slaughter facilities
or to unload animals at auction markets, feedlots,
or fairgrounds. This will require a coordinated program
Figure 1—Step-by-step flow of animals through a slaughter plant.
that facilitates immediate cancellation of animal loading
on the farm and diverts loads that are en route to
other facilities.
D1.2 Step 2—Unloading
When unloading is done correctly, animals will
move off the vehicle in a quiet, orderly manner. Handlers
should be quiet and refrain from yelling, whistling,
or repeatedly hitting the sides of the vehicle. The
sound of people yelling has been shown to be very
stressful for livestock. 3,4 Electric prods can be completely
eliminated during unloading of most hoofstock and
ducks. The best US sheep plants use trained sheep to
lead the animals off the vehicle. 5 An electric prod may
occasionally be necessary to move pigs out of a vehicle
with multiple decks. Some pigs may be very difficult to
move if they have never had the experience of people
walking through their pens on the farm. Handling experiences
on the farm can affect pig movement in the
future. 6–8 Pigs that have become accustomed to people
walking through their pens on the farm will be easier to
move and less likely to pile up when they are handled
at the plant. 5 Use of electric prods on horses is strongly
discouraged; they should only be used as a last resort
when all other options have been exhausted. Acceptable
handling tools for horses include flags and rattle
paddles. 9
D1.2.1 Detection of problems
Industry guidelines advise that if more than 1% of
animals fall during unloading or more than 5% of animals
are unloaded using an electric prod, there is a welfare
problem in the unloading area. 10–12 Most plants can
achieve this standard, as the majority of larger plants
have banned the use of the electric prod at unloading.
There is a problem if animals in the unloading area run
into fences or pile up. Quiet handling also provides the
advantage of greatly reducing bruises, a which is an economic
incentive for the facility.
At the time of unloading, plant employees
should note whether the vehicle is overloaded. Vehicles
should be loaded per industry and international
guidelines. 1,9,13,14
Overloading of trucks can cause severe economic
losses. Bruised meat cannot be used for human consumption.
In cattle, overloading of trucks will increase
bruises, lameness, and the likelihood of nonambulatory
cattle 15–18 (for US transport regulations refer to 49 USC
Section 80502 19 ). A large survey 20 in both the United
States and Canada showed that 49% of the cattle trucks
arriving at processing plants were overloaded. Cattle
that are heat stressed will breathe with their mouths
open. 24 Overloading trucks with pigs will increase death
losses, 21 and overloading horses will lead to fighting,
restlessness, falling, and injury. 22 Research 23 with sheep
indicated that packing sheep too tightly on a vehicle resulted
in an increase in animals falling down. Animals
should also be observed for transport-induced welfare
problems such as frostbite, lacerations, heat stress, and
urine scald
Another problem that can seriously compromise
animal welfare at the slaughter plant is when the ani-
14 AVMA Guidelines for the Humane Slaughter of Animals: 2016 Edition