Occurrence and reasons for on-farm emergency slaughter of cattle in Norway
On-farm emergency slaughter (OFES) accounts for more than 4% of all cattle slaughter in Norway. The practice raises questions about animal welfare, public health, and the sustainability of cattle production. The objective of this study was to describe the reasons for OFES as stated on the OFES veter...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.1067489/full |
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| author | Gíslína Skúladóttir Ingrid Hunter-Holmøy Clare Joan Phythian Guro Myhrene Adam Dunstan Martin |
| author_facet | Gíslína Skúladóttir Ingrid Hunter-Holmøy Clare Joan Phythian Guro Myhrene Adam Dunstan Martin |
| author_sort | Gíslína Skúladóttir |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | On-farm emergency slaughter (OFES) accounts for more than 4% of all cattle slaughter in Norway. The practice raises questions about animal welfare, public health, and the sustainability of cattle production. The objective of this study was to describe the reasons for OFES as stated on the OFES veterinary certificate. Veterinary certificates for OFES for each animal slaughtered in four chosen slaughterhouses from 4 months (January–April–July–October) in 2018 were transcribed into a database. Secondary data were extracted from national cattle databases and used to supplement primary data with information on breed, sex, and birth date. Breeds were divided into dairy and beef cattle. The reasons for slaughter were reported in text on the certificates and were categorized in the study into 5 reasons: recumbency, mammary gland, obstetrics, locomotion, and other, with a total of 20 subcategories for detail. In total, 2,229 forms were included in the study. Thirteen breeds were represented, although dominated by Norwegian Red within dairy and crossbreed within beef. Of the cattle in the study, 46% were slaughtered for locomotion reasons, thereof almost half for lameness. Furthermore, 23% of the cattle in the study were slaughtered for recumbency and 17% for prolapse or dystocia. A higher proportion of dairy cows were slaughtered because of reasons related to mammary glands than beef cows, 10 and 2%, respectively. Almost 30% of beef cows were slaughtered for obstetrics reasons compared to 12% of dairy cows. The results of this study shed light on the reasons for OFES, which is highly relevant to greater discussions of sustainability in cattle production and animal welfare related to on-farm mortality. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T07:56:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dfbab261a6764b0d91ac37072c42148a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-1769 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T07:56:25Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-dfbab261a6764b0d91ac37072c42148a2022-12-22T04:35:55ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Veterinary Science2297-17692022-12-01910.3389/fvets.2022.10674891067489Occurrence and reasons for on-farm emergency slaughter of cattle in NorwayGíslína Skúladóttir0Ingrid Hunter-Holmøy1Clare Joan Phythian2Guro Myhrene3Adam Dunstan Martin4Department of Production Animal Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, NorwayDepartment of Production Animal Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, NorwaySection for Small Ruminant Research, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Sandnes, NorwayNorwegian Food Safety Authority, Sandnes, NorwayDepartment of Production Animal Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, NorwayOn-farm emergency slaughter (OFES) accounts for more than 4% of all cattle slaughter in Norway. The practice raises questions about animal welfare, public health, and the sustainability of cattle production. The objective of this study was to describe the reasons for OFES as stated on the OFES veterinary certificate. Veterinary certificates for OFES for each animal slaughtered in four chosen slaughterhouses from 4 months (January–April–July–October) in 2018 were transcribed into a database. Secondary data were extracted from national cattle databases and used to supplement primary data with information on breed, sex, and birth date. Breeds were divided into dairy and beef cattle. The reasons for slaughter were reported in text on the certificates and were categorized in the study into 5 reasons: recumbency, mammary gland, obstetrics, locomotion, and other, with a total of 20 subcategories for detail. In total, 2,229 forms were included in the study. Thirteen breeds were represented, although dominated by Norwegian Red within dairy and crossbreed within beef. Of the cattle in the study, 46% were slaughtered for locomotion reasons, thereof almost half for lameness. Furthermore, 23% of the cattle in the study were slaughtered for recumbency and 17% for prolapse or dystocia. A higher proportion of dairy cows were slaughtered because of reasons related to mammary glands than beef cows, 10 and 2%, respectively. Almost 30% of beef cows were slaughtered for obstetrics reasons compared to 12% of dairy cows. The results of this study shed light on the reasons for OFES, which is highly relevant to greater discussions of sustainability in cattle production and animal welfare related to on-farm mortality.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.1067489/fullOFEScattleanimal welfarefood safetycattle mortalityslaughter |
| spellingShingle | Gíslína Skúladóttir Ingrid Hunter-Holmøy Clare Joan Phythian Guro Myhrene Adam Dunstan Martin Occurrence and reasons for on-farm emergency slaughter of cattle in Norway Frontiers in Veterinary Science OFES cattle animal welfare food safety cattle mortality slaughter |
| title | Occurrence and reasons for on-farm emergency slaughter of cattle in Norway |
| title_full | Occurrence and reasons for on-farm emergency slaughter of cattle in Norway |
| title_fullStr | Occurrence and reasons for on-farm emergency slaughter of cattle in Norway |
| title_full_unstemmed | Occurrence and reasons for on-farm emergency slaughter of cattle in Norway |
| title_short | Occurrence and reasons for on-farm emergency slaughter of cattle in Norway |
| title_sort | occurrence and reasons for on farm emergency slaughter of cattle in norway |
| topic | OFES cattle animal welfare food safety cattle mortality slaughter |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.1067489/full |
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