Humane-Slaughter-Guidelines

AVMA Guidelines for the Humane Slaughter
of Animals: 2016 Edition
Introduction
In 1963, the AVMA convened the first POE to provide
guidance for veterinarians who perform or oversee
the euthanasia of animals. In 2011, the AVMA POE determined
there was a need to address and evaluate the
methods and agents that veterinarians may encounter
when animals are killed under conditions where meeting
the POE definition of euthanasia may not be possible.
The guidance contained within this document
relates to the humane slaughter of animals intended for
use as food.
The content of the AVMA Guidelines for the Humane
Slaughter of Animals (Guidelines) reflects the
AVMA’s on-going commitment to ensure that the treatment
of animals during every stage of life, including
during the induction of death, is as humane and respectful
as possible. While much remains to be learned
about animal pain and consciousness and new evidence
and technological innovation may lead to the adoption
of more humane techniques, this edition of the
Guidelines relies on the scientific evidence currently
available. In interpreting that evidence, the POHS was
committed to ensuring, to the best of its ability, that no
unnecessary pain or distress is inflicted on conscious
animals used for food prior to or during slaughter.
These Guidelines are part of a triad of documents on
humane killing—the other two being the AVMA Guidelines
for the Euthanasia of Animals: 2013 Edition 1 and
the anticipated AVMA Guidelines for the Depopulation
of Animals. 2
The latter half of the 20th century and the first
two decades of the 21st century have seen the proliferation
of the scientific study of animals’ welfare to address
public concerns regarding the ethical treatment of
animals, especially those used in biomedical research
and raised and slaughtered for food. 3 The treatment of
animals is an important subject for public debate and
discussion, especially in light of growing adoption of
intensive forms of agricultural and aquacultural production
and increased interest in food quality, safety,
and quantity. Additionally, the scientific community
and the public share an interest in the possibility of
substantial cognitive, emotional, psychological, and
social abilities in nonhuman species. Attention to questions
about the moral status of animals has meant that
veterinarians and others have had to demonstrate to
the public due diligence in their professional roles. Approximately
10% to15% of veterinarians are involved in
promoting the health and welfare of animals that will
eventually become food. 4
Commensurate with increased attention to how
their meat is processed and prepared, the public has
shown greater interest in the quality of life provided for
animals raised for food, including the environments in
which they are raised, how they are handled and managed,
and how they are slaughtered and processed for
human consumption. Contemporary slaughter practic-
CAS
CFIA
EEG
FSIS
HMSA
LAPS
LOP
LORR
OIE
POE
POHS
SEP
Abbreviations
Controlled atmosphere stunning
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Electroencephalography
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act
Low-atmospheric-pressure stunning
Loss of position or posture
Loss of the righting reflex
World Organisation for Animal Health
Panel on Euthanasia
Panel on Humane Slaughter
Somatosensory evoked potential
es are considerably improved over those of times past,
but additional innovation is needed and possible. Careful
attention to empirical issues is essential when assessing
farming practices and slaughter methods from
an ethical perspective.
The POHS has worked diligently to identify and apply
the best research and empirical information available
to promote the humane slaughter of the species of
animals addressed in this document. Mechanical and
physical methods, electrical methods, and controlled
atmosphere and gas methods are used to bring about
unconsciousness through physical disruption, hypoxia,
neuronal depression, or epileptiform brain activity in
food animals at slaughter. A range of factors, including
expanded knowledge about the cognitive capabilities
of animals, technological and economic conditions,
and social and ethical considerations affecting the sustainability
of animal agriculture, the care and management
of food animals, and food security, will influence
the recommendations in this and future editions of this
document. The AVMA encourages its members to utilize
their scientific knowledge and practical expertise to protect
and promote the health and welfare of all animals.
The Guidelines do not venture into the morality
of killing animals for food. The POHS’s focus was on
what should happen to animals when slaughter is their
ultimate fate. When animals are designated for slaughter,
they should be treated with respect and handled appropriately,
and the slaughter process should limit the
harms experienced by these animals. Humane slaughter
methods and agents are designed to bring about rapid
loss of consciousness and, ultimately, a complete loss of
brain function in animals destined for use as food. This
means minimizing (and, where possible, eliminating)
anxiety, pain, and distress associated with terminating
the lives of the following species of animals: hoofstock
(cattle, bison, horses and mules, sheep, goats, swine,
deer, elk), poultry (chickens, turkey, pheasants, ratites,
geese, ducks), fish, alligators, and rabbits. The process
of termination, as defined here, encompasses the period
from which a farmed animal designated for human food
consumption is off-loaded at a slaughter facility until it
is verified to be unconscious and, ultimately, dead and
ready for entry into the food chain.
AVMA Guidelines for the Humane Slaughter of Animals: 2016 Edition 5