Animal Welfare and Food Safety When Slaughtering Cattle Using the Gunshot Method
Transporting cattle from farm to slaughterhouse is often stressful for the animal, which can impair the meat quality. With the gunshot method, the animal is stunned with a rifle shot while together with familiar herd members in their home environment, exsanguinated and transported to a nearby slaugh...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/4/492 |
| _version_ | 1797483495848673280 |
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| author | Jan Hultgren Katrin J. Schiffer Jakub Babol Charlotte Berg |
| author_facet | Jan Hultgren Katrin J. Schiffer Jakub Babol Charlotte Berg |
| author_sort | Jan Hultgren |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Transporting cattle from farm to slaughterhouse is often stressful for the animal, which can impair the meat quality. With the gunshot method, the animal is stunned with a rifle shot while together with familiar herd members in their home environment, exsanguinated and transported to a nearby slaughterhouse. Aiming to assess the consequences for animal welfare and food safety, 20 Hereford steers aged 18–54 months were shot with .22 Magnum ammunition from an elevated position and distance of 6–12 m. Each time, only one out of four to seven animals in a 16 × 10 m corral was shot. Dressing was done on farm. Based on the animals’ behaviour and blood concentrations of cortisol, glucose and lactate, stress levels before shooting were low. Eleven animals were deeply stunned, the consciousness of seven others was ambiguous, and two were poorly stunned. Two animals were reshot. The bleed-out was satisfactory for all animals, and little or no faecal contamination was found on the carcasses. We conclude that the gunshot method is applicable to large beef steers while maintaining a satisfactory level of animal welfare and food safety, provided that the necessary conditions can be attained. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:47:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d4262eeaff15437e83d06cb6027b94cc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:47:49Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-d4262eeaff15437e83d06cb6027b94cc2023-11-23T18:25:57ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152022-02-0112449210.3390/ani12040492Animal Welfare and Food Safety When Slaughtering Cattle Using the Gunshot MethodJan Hultgren0Katrin J. Schiffer1Jakub Babol2Charlotte Berg3Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 234, 53223 Skara, SwedenDepartment of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 234, 53223 Skara, SwedenDepartment of Biomedical Science and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7036, 75007 Uppsala, SwedenDepartment of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 234, 53223 Skara, SwedenTransporting cattle from farm to slaughterhouse is often stressful for the animal, which can impair the meat quality. With the gunshot method, the animal is stunned with a rifle shot while together with familiar herd members in their home environment, exsanguinated and transported to a nearby slaughterhouse. Aiming to assess the consequences for animal welfare and food safety, 20 Hereford steers aged 18–54 months were shot with .22 Magnum ammunition from an elevated position and distance of 6–12 m. Each time, only one out of four to seven animals in a 16 × 10 m corral was shot. Dressing was done on farm. Based on the animals’ behaviour and blood concentrations of cortisol, glucose and lactate, stress levels before shooting were low. Eleven animals were deeply stunned, the consciousness of seven others was ambiguous, and two were poorly stunned. Two animals were reshot. The bleed-out was satisfactory for all animals, and little or no faecal contamination was found on the carcasses. We conclude that the gunshot method is applicable to large beef steers while maintaining a satisfactory level of animal welfare and food safety, provided that the necessary conditions can be attained.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/4/492brain haemorrhageon-farm slaughterriflesteerslaughter hygienestun quality |
| spellingShingle | Jan Hultgren Katrin J. Schiffer Jakub Babol Charlotte Berg Animal Welfare and Food Safety When Slaughtering Cattle Using the Gunshot Method Animals brain haemorrhage on-farm slaughter rifle steer slaughter hygiene stun quality |
| title | Animal Welfare and Food Safety When Slaughtering Cattle Using the Gunshot Method |
| title_full | Animal Welfare and Food Safety When Slaughtering Cattle Using the Gunshot Method |
| title_fullStr | Animal Welfare and Food Safety When Slaughtering Cattle Using the Gunshot Method |
| title_full_unstemmed | Animal Welfare and Food Safety When Slaughtering Cattle Using the Gunshot Method |
| title_short | Animal Welfare and Food Safety When Slaughtering Cattle Using the Gunshot Method |
| title_sort | animal welfare and food safety when slaughtering cattle using the gunshot method |
| topic | brain haemorrhage on-farm slaughter rifle steer slaughter hygiene stun quality |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/4/492 |
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