Humane slaughter of animals

Policy

1. Animals must be slaughtered in a humane manner which minimises or prevents pain, suffering, and distress before death.
2. Regardless of religious or cultural beliefs, animals must be stunned and rendered unconscious before exsanguination, and remain unconscious until death occurs. Unless using a method of killing that results in immediate death.
3. The stunning method must result in rapid loss of consciousness and should not be aversive.
4. Facilities and handling practices which minimise stress must be implemented. This includes handling animals without using excessive force, electric prodders, or dogs.
5. Inversion slaughter boxes must not be used while animals are conscious.
6. Unconsciousness must be confirmed after stunning and prior to bleeding to ensure stun effectiveness. Death must occur prior to any further processing of the animal. If animals are found to show any signs of consciousness, an irreversible stunning/killing method must be used immediately.
7. New or modified stunning methods must be scientifically validated, undergo an independent animal welfare assessment, and be approved by the relevant regulatory authorities before commercial use.
8. Closed Circuit Television Cameras (CCTV) or equivalent technology must be used in commercial slaughtering establishments to provide assurance that animal welfare requirements are being met. CCTV monitoring of sufficient resolution should be installed with a clear unobstructed view of all areas where live animal handling occurs, and records should be retained for an appropriate duration for auditing and training purposes.
9. Slaughtering establishments must continuously monitor relevant animal welfare indicators and make rapid adjustments where necessary in equipment or other operations.
10. Slaughtering establishments must have a person who is competent and responsible for overseeing animal welfare at the establishment (i.e. a dedicated Animal Welfare Officer). Any breaches of animal welfare must be reported to management and/or relevant authorities to ensure action is taken to address any breaches identified.
11. All slaughtering establishments, including domestic abattoirs, should engage suitably experienced veterinarians to consult on animal welfare, biosecurity, diseases, and food safety.
12. Animal welfare audits must be conducted at commercial slaughtering establishments by the relevant regulatory authority at regular intervals. Audit frequency must be based on a compliance rating with audit frequency increased if breaches or non‑conformances are identified.

Background  

Hundreds of millions of animals are slaughtered in Australia each year to produce meat or meat products (ABS, 2023).  From the time of arrival at a slaughtering establishment until death there are a number of significant welfare risks to animals that must be managed to minimise or preferably prevent them from experiencing pain, distress or suffering prior to death. This policy is relevant to all sentient terrestrial species.  Animals may be slaughtered at a variety of different facilities including abattoirs, knackeries, or mobile abattoirs, which differ in regulatory requirements among the Australian jurisdictions.

There are species-specific guidelines on how to slaughter animals humanely within the 2001 Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals: Livestock at Slaughtering Establishments (CSIRO, 2023), which is mandatory in some jurisdictions where it has been adopted into relevant regulations. The Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for processing establishments is under development and is intended to replace the Model Code of Practice (Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines, 2023). There is a voluntary Animal Welfare Standard for Livestock Processing Establishments, which is managed by the Australian Meat Industry Council (Australian Meat Industry Council, 2020). There are also international guidelines developed by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, 2023), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), including a code of practice for fish and fish products (FAO 2001, 2003), the Humane Slaughter Association (HSA) (HSA 2023), and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA, 2016).

Good handling practices and holding facilities prior to slaughter play a crucial role in upholding the welfare of animals, maintaining food safety standards and improving meat quality where applicable. In Australia animals are required to be stunned prior to slaughter unless an exemption is provided for religious slaughter. It is the AVA position that a suitable stunning method must be used to render all animals unconscious prior to and during exsanguination until death; this is essential to ensure good animal welfare. The process of exsanguination involves performing a throat cut or thoracic stick to bleed out the animal before further processing.  Scientific evidence shows that exsanguination causes significant pain to animals if they are conscious (Gibson et al, 2009a, 2009b; EFSA, 2004; Gregory et al 2006, 2008, 2009, 2020). A sheep can remain conscious for up to 20 seconds after its throat is cut, while loss of consciousness in cattle under similar circumstances can take up to two minutes, due to the collateral supply of blood to the brain through the vertebral arteries (Gibson et al, 2009a, 2009b; EFSA, 2004; Gregory et al 2006, 2008, 2009, 2020). Exsanguination does not cause immediate unconsciousness/death, therefore if animals have not been effectively rendered unconscious before exsanguination, they will likely experience pain during the bleed out period and before death. Evidence shows that unstunned slaughter can increase the risk of prolonged bleed out times and that animals show distress and pain behaviours, such as kicking, twisting, and shaking, due to the restraint and neck cut (Gregory et al 2006, 2020). Slaughtering animals without stunning also often requires additional restraint of animals which can cause additional stress and suffering for animals.

Surveillance using CCTV cameras or equivalent technologies installed in commercial slaughtering establishments promotes transparency, providing assurance that animals are handled humanely, and instances of mistreatment or abuse can be identified, investigated, and addressed promptly. CCTV footage can also serve as a valuable source of evidence and records which can be used as a tool for staff training and auditing.

It is important that commercial slaughtering establishments have a sufficient number of dedicated animal welfare officers (AWO) or equivalent to oversee and ensure animal welfare requirements are maintained from arrival until slaughter. Their primary responsibility should be to ensure that animals are treated humanely in accordance with established welfare standards and regulations. Veterinarians can also play a crucial role in providing training to AWOs as well as providing advice on food safety, disease risk and biosecurity withing the slaughtering establishment.

Recommendations

1. Animals should be slaughtered as close to the site of production as practicable to minimise transport and handling stress;
2. Where animals are transported for processing, this should be done in accordance with the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Land Transport of Livestock.
3. Animals should be slaughtered as soon as possible after arrival at the processing facility, to minimise lairage times.
4. Governments should legislate best practice handling methods that minimise stress of animals in slaughtering establishments. They should also require all animals to be stunned prior to slaughter so that they are rendered unconsciousness and remain unconsciousness until death is achieved. The use of inherently stressful handling practices, including electric prodders, dogs, and inverter boxes should be phased out.
5. Governments should also legislate the requirement that CCTV or equivalent technologies is installed at commercial slaughtering establishments with a clear and unobstructed view of all areas where live animal handling occurs. CCTV footage should be reviewed internally on a regular basis to assist with verifying and improving internal plan operations.  
6. Governments should legislate the requirement for a dedicated Animal Welfare Officer who is responsible for the oversight of animal welfare at all commercial slaughtering establishments.
7. Establishments should be encouraged to engage with veterinarians to provide training in animal welfare, as well as food safety, diseases and biosecurity within the slaughtering establishment.
8. The finalisation of the new Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Livestock at Processing Establishments should be urgently prioritized given we are still reliant on the MCOP which is out of date and not required in every state.
9. Once complete, the Standards and Guidelines must be implemented, monitored/audited and enforced with national consistency across all Australian jurisdictions.
10. Slaughtering establishments should maintain and operate species-specific standard operating procedures that detail the requirements for handling and processing of animals at the establishment. These must be regularly examined and reviewed. Suitably experienced veterinarians should be engaged to assist in writing and reviewing these procedures.
11. Research efforts from government, industry and welfare bodies should continuously seek more humane handling and stunning methods that address current concerns, such as the aversive nature of high concentration carbon dioxide stunning of pigs. The AVA encourages ongoing research and investment into alternatives to carbon dioxide stunning, such as the use of less aversive gasses which result in loss of consciousness without distress (e.g. inert gases).

Related AVA Policies

1. Fish welfare: https://www.ava.com.au/policy-advocacy/policies/hunting-and-fishing/fish-welfare/
2. AVA Statement of Principles on Animal Welfare and Ethics: https://www.ava.com.au/policy-advocacy/policies/animal-welfare-principles-and-philosophy/ava-statement-of-principles--animal-ethics/

References

American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA, 2016). Guidelines for the humane slaughter of animals: https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/avma-policies/guidelines-humane-slaughter-animals.

Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines (2023): https://animalwelfarestandards.net.au/welfare-standards-and-guidelines/processing-establishments/

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS, 2023). Livestock Products, Australia: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/agriculture/livestock-products-australia/latest-release

Australian Meat Industry Council (2020). Industry Animal Welfare Standard for Livestock Processing Establishments Preparing Meat for Human Consumption: https://amic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/AMIC-Ed-3-Industry-Animal-Welfare-Standard_Final-effective-1-Jan-2022.pdf.

CSIRO: Livestock Codes (2023): https://www.publish.csiro.au/FoodAndAgriculture/LivestockCodes

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA, 2004). Opinion of the Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW) on a request from the Commission related to welfare aspects of the main systems of stunning and killing the main commercial species of animals.

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO, 2001). Guidelines for humane handling, transport and slaughter of livestock: https://www.fao.org/3/x6909e/x6909e.pdf.

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO, 2003). Code of practice for fish and fishery products. Codex Alimentarius International Food Standards.

Gibson T, Johnson C, Murrell J, Chambers J, Stafford J, Mellor D (2009a). Components of electroencephalographic responses to slaughter in halothane-anaesthetised calves: Effects of cutting neck tissues compared with major blood vessels. New Zealand Veterinary Journal. 57:2: p. 84-89.

Gibson T, Johnson C, Murrell J, Hulls C, Mitchinson S, Stafford K, et al (2009b) Electroencephalographic responses of halothane-anaesthetised calves to slaughter by ventral-neck incision without prior stunning. New Zealand Veterinary Journal. (57:2): p. 77-83.

Gregory N, Fielding H, von Wenzlawowicz M, von Holleben K (2020). Time to collapse following slaughter without stunning in cattle. Meat Sci. 85(1): p. 66-69.

Gregory N, Shaw F, Whitford J, Patterson-Kane J (2006). Prevalence of ballooning of the severed carotid arteries at slaughter in cattle, calves and sheep. Meat Sci. 74(4): p. 655-657.

Gregory N, von Wenzlawowicz M, Alam R, Anil H, Yeşildere T, Silva-Fletcher A (2008). False aneurysms in carotid arteries of cattle and water buffalo during shechita and halal slaughter. Meat Science. 79(2): p. 285-288.

Gregory N, von Wenzlawowicz M, von Holleben K (2009). Blood in the respiratory tract during slaughter with and without stunning in cattle. Meat Science. 82(1): p. 13-16.

Humane Slaughter Association (HSA, 2023). Available from: https://www.hsa.org.uk/publications/online-guides

World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, 2023). Terrestrial Animal Health Code: https://www.woah.org/en/what-we-do/standards/codes-and-manuals/terrestrial-code-online-access/