Meat+Poultry - November 2019 - 26

A N I M A L W E L FA R E R E P O RT

Defining
the issues
STUNNING: The act or method of
rendering an animal unconscious and
unable to feel pain (death may or may
not occur as a result of stunning).
Who should be trained on
proper stunning?
* Employees responsible for
stunning animals
* Managers overseeing animal
handling areas
* Maintenance workers servicing
stunning equipment
INSENSIBILITY: The state of being
unconscious and unable to feel pain.
Achieving insensibility requires a
proper and effective stun. Death is not
synonymous with insensibility which
exists on a scale of consciousness to
unconsciousness.

dioxide-based stunning
technology, others are
still using traditional
tools of the trade, which
magnifies the need for
training animal handlers
on stunning using some
or all of those tools.
"A lot of us are still
using multiple different
methods within the
plant," he said, in
different areas of the
facility. For example,
where animals arrive
at the plant in the
receiving area, captive
bolt stunners are used
when needed. "This is
one of the important
areas we're training
people on," Toliver
said. "Positioning is
very important with
this piece of stunning;
making sure that you're
hitting that target zone
on the pig's head."

TIMING MATTERS
Who should be trained
on insensibility?
* All employees and management in
animal handling areas
* Employees responsible for stunning
* Shacklers
* Stickers
Source: Lyndsey Jones

26

Pairis-Garcia pointed
out that timely
euthanasia is a highpriority issue, especially
in hog-production
operations, because if
a third-party auditor
identifies an animal that
is sick or injured and
isn't going to recover it
results in an automatic
failure and requires reinspection. The goal
of timely euthanasia is to use it as a tool to
eliminate pain and suffering when recovery is
prolonged or not likely, she pointed out. When
considering euthanasia, however, the decision
typically isn't black and white. The decision is
made more difficult because most diseases or
illnesses in animals are on a continuum and
determining the severity can be challenging.
Referring to producers as "caretakers," she
said the goal is to make it easier for people
in these roles to determine when an illness

MEAT+ POULTRY | 11.19 | www.meatpoultry.com

or disease has compromised an animal to
the point that it isn't likely they will heal or
recover within 48 hours, and euthanasia is the
only humane option. Putting the right people
in these positions is critical as their role
to ensure animals in their care stay alive is
sometimes interrupted by the need to order or
perform euthanasia.
"What we don't want to do is to get
individuals that are going to euthanize
animals way too early and not give them
that opportunity to get better," she said. "But
we also don't want to have those animals
that clearly are not going to recover, that
are suffering (and) experiencing prolonged
distress because we have an individual that
doesn't want to make that decision."
The National Pork Board and the American
Association of Swine Veterinarians have
developed an on-farm audit for the pork
industry that has evolved from generic
guidelines to more specific red flags to
signal the need for euthanasia. For example,
euthanasia is automatic for: any nonambulatory pig with the inability to recover;
pigs with ulcerated or permeated hernias;
those animals with a rectal prolapse that
has become necrotic; those suffering from
uterine prolapse. But certain situations are
not as black and white and the decision to
euthanize can be a challenging one, even for
well-trained caregivers of livestock who are
equipped with stunning tools that have been
scientifically validated.
"So, you think if you gave the tool to the
caretaker they'll be able to make the right
decision, right? They know you know that
euthanasia equipment's going to work; they've
been trained on it," Pairis-Garcia said. "We've
done a really good job on that, but I go out on
the farms and we see a lot of failures still. We
still see a lot of issues with euthanasia in the
decision making."
She said that one of the biggest factors
in that decision-making process is the
psychological impact of making that lifeor-death choice for another living animal,
which can result in not euthanizing when
it is warranted. The topic of making timely
decisions was the focus of research led
by Pairis-Garcia, specifically in the hog
production segment of the industry, including
interviewing those decision makers as part of
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