The use of stunning in livestock slaughter

[Rivers]

What do you think of it?

Most people here in the UK seem to be under the impression that it is more humane to stun an animal before slaughter as it apparently reduces the pain/ordeal of dying. Traditional methods of slaughter (knife to the jugular done by hand individually) is typically only done by Kosher & Halal slaughterhouses and many people are outraged by this (some even campaign) as they believe it to be barbaric.

The main way in which cattle are slaughtered for mass market is very mechanised, animals put on a sort of conveyor with barriers around either side of there heads so they cannot move. They get either electrocuted or a bolt gun to the head which concusses them then they get dragged along and where either a mechanised blade chops their head off or they get dangled upside down and get their throat cut then.

With sheep and pigs, the slaughter house workers seem to electrocute the animals repeatedly and liberally to stop them running around. They have several animals together in the room so they are understandably spooked. To me it seems that the stunning here is PURELY for the laziness of the staff. As you can easily calm a sheep down and hold it still.

They also stun chickens before slaughter, cannot fathom as to why.

I was wondering what methods small holders in the USA use? I think small holders and even large farms in the UK are not ALLOWED to slaughter their own animals. They have to transport them to centralised abbotoirs, often a long road journey away.

 

[danischi24]

You will probably get a bigger response in the Meat Birds ETC section of the forum. They also use it for other meat animals. Dying is never fun or painless in my opinion. The quicker the better. Most stunning is done to make the muscles relax & to incapacitate. Ever tried holding a large pig or sheep that's fighting for it's life? Impossible & dangerous.
On the other hand, I'm sure that the workers in big plants are hardened to their jobs & probably use excessive force when not necessary.

 

[smithmal]

bumping old thread....

Need to cull some of my ducks as there are no longer laying. I've done one round in the past using a kill cone and cutting the jugular. Saw a video of "The Ballista" which is a bolt gun used for rabbits and poultry.

Here's a video of it being used to stun a chicken.

After stunning the poultry should be bled. The Ballist is relatively inexpensive ($65) and no ammo, electricity or cartridges needed: https://www.bunnyrancher.com/store/p42/The_Ballista_-_Penetrating_Bolt_Gun_.html

Anyone used one of these? Any thought on this?

Thanks,

smithmal

 

[DrakeMom]

From what I've read,(not from experience) a stun gun sends an electrical shock straight to the brain which knocks them out while you bleed them until they die from blood loss. If it is used correctly, the animal won't feel a thing. So if your not using a stun gun, it's a wrestle to get the jugular cut, which makes the animal stressed in it's last minuets. If the stress level when the animal dies, is high the meat tastes worse than if it was calm in it's last minuets. My point of view is, if you don't like the process they use in a slaughter house but still love meat, raise your own meat! You can make sure the animal gets a nice life before it's slaughtered, therefore the meat tastes better!