Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T01:44:54.077Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Main animal welfare problems in ruminant livestock during preslaughter operations: a South American view

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2015

C. B. Gallo  and
S. M. Huertas
C. B. Gallo*
Affiliation:
OIE Collaborating Centre for Animal Welfare and Livestock Production Systems Chile-Uruguay-Mexico, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile
S. M. Huertas
Affiliation:
OIE Collaborating Centre for Animal Welfare and Livestock Production Systems Chile-Uruguay-Mexico, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile
*
†E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Animals destined for meat production are usually exposed to many stressful conditions during production and particularly during preslaughter operations. Handling animals on farm, loading into and unloading from vehicles, transportation, passing through livestock markets, fasting, lairage and stunning can all affect their welfare. How badly welfare can be affected will depend on both the intrinsic factors of the specific type of animal involved and the extrinsic factors of the environment where those animals live or are being handled, including the animal handlers. In South America (SA), it has been part of a strategy for improving animal welfare (AW) to address not only ethical aspects, but to emphasize the close relationship existing between handling ruminants preslaughter and the quantity and quality of the meat they produce. This has resulted not only in improvements in AW, but has also brought economic rewards to producers which in turn can lead to higher incomes for them and hence better human welfare. For producers with a high number of animals, considering AW during production and preslaughter operations can determine the possibility of exporting and/or getting better prices for their products. At smallfarmer level, particularly in some less developed countries, where human welfare is impaired, using this strategy together with education has also been relevant. It is important that education and training in AW are done not only considering global knowledge, but also including specific geographical and climatic characteristics of each country and the cultural, religious and socio-economical characteristics of its people; therefore, research within the context of each country or region becomes relevant. The aim of this review was to show the results of research dealing with AW of ruminant livestock in Chile and some other SA countries. Some of the main problems encountered are related to lack of proper infrastructure to handle animals; long distance transport with high stocking densities in the larger countries; long fasting times due to animals passing through livestock markets and dealers; bad handling of animals by untrained personnel in these and other premises; and finally the lack of knowledge and skills by operators in charge of stunning procedures. Interventions at these stages have considered training animal handlers and transporters by showing them the consequences of bad handling with audiovisual material prepared on site. Research results have helped to improve AW and support the development of new legislation or to make changes in the existent legislation related to AW.

Keywords

livestockwelfarehandlingSouth America
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , February 2016 , pp. 357 - 364
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

a

Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile.

b

Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de la República, Lasplaces 1550, Montevideo, Uruguay.

References

Aguayo, L and Gallo, C 2005. Tiempos de viaje y densidades de carga usadas para bovinos transportados vía marítima y terrestre desde la Región de Aysén a la zona centro-sur de Chile. In Proceedings of XII Congreso Latinoamericano de Buiatría, 15–18 November, Valdivia, Chile, pp. 346–347.Google Scholar
Aguayo, L and Gallo, C 2006. Densidad de carga y comportamiento de bovinos transportados vía marítima desde Puerto Chacabuco a Puerto Montt, Chile. Paper presented at the XX Congreso Panamericano de Ciencias Veterinarias y 14ª Congreso Chileno de Medicina Veterinaria, 12–16 November, Santiago, Chile.Google Scholar
Amtmann, VA, Gallo, C, Van Schaik, G and Tadich, N 2006. Relaciones entre el manejo antemortem, variables sanguíneas indicadoras de estrés y pH de la canal en novillos. Archivos de Medicina Veterinaria 38, 259–264.Google Scholar
Bianchi, G and Garibotto, G 2004. Bienestar animal: relevamiento de puntos críticos en Uruguay. Serie Técnica Nº37, Instituto Nacional de Carnes (INAC) y Facultad de Agronomía, Paysandú, Uruguay, 40pp.Google Scholar
Cáraves, M, Gallo, C, Strappini, A, Aguayo, L, Allende, R, Chacón, F and Briones, I 2006. Evaluación del bienestar animal de bovinos durante el manejo ante mortem en seis plantas faenadoras en Chile. In Proceedings of XXXI Congreso de la Sociedad Chilena de Producción Animal, 18–20 October, Chillán, Chile, pp. 179–180.Google Scholar
Cáraves, M, Gallo, C, Strappini, A, Barrientos, A, Allende, R, Chacón, F and Briones, I 2007. Evaluación del bienestar animal de ovinos durante el manejo ante mortem en dos plantas faenadoras en Magallanes, Chile. In Proceedings of XXXII Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Chilena de Producción Animal, 14–16 November, Frutillar, Chile, pp. 183–184.Google Scholar
Carter, L and Gallo, C 2008. Efecto del transporte prolongado por vía terrestre y cruce marítimo en transbordador sobre pérdidas de peso vivo y características de la canal en corderos. Archivos de Medicina Veterinaria 40, 259–266.Google Scholar
Chile 2009. Reglamento sobre estructura y funcionamiento de mataderos, cámaras frigoríficas y plantas de desposte y fija equipamiento mínimo de tales establecimientos. Decreto No. 94, 2 June. Ministerio de Agricultura, Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile.Google Scholar
Chile 2013a. Reglamento sobre protección de los animales que provean de carne, pieles, plumas y otros productos al momento del beneficio en establecimientos industriales. Decreto No. 28, 30 May. Ministerio de Agricultura, Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile.Google Scholar
Chile 2013b. Reglamento sobre protección de los animales durante su producción industrial, su comercialización y en otros recintos de mantención de animales. Decreto No. 29, 24 May. Ministerio de Agricultura, Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile.Google Scholar
Chile 2013c. Reglamento sobre protección del ganado durante su transporte. Decreto No. 30, 16 May. Ministerio de Agricultura, Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile.Google Scholar
De Vries, M 2011. Human animal relationship at Chilean livestock markets. MSc Thesis. Animal Science Department, Wageningen University, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Del Campo, M, Brito, G, Montossi, F, Soares de Lima, JM and San Julian, R 2014. Animal welfare and meat quality: the perspective of Uruguay, a “small” exporter country. Meat Science 98, 470–476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Del Campo, M, Brito, G, Soares de Lima, JM, Hernández, P and Montossi, F 2010. Finishing diet, temperament and lairage time effects on carcass and meat quality traits in steers. Meat Science 86, 908–914.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Estrada, G, Strappini, A and Gallo, C 2009. Comportamiento de novillos en corrales de espera en matadero posterior a transportes largos y cortos. Paper presented at the Primer Encuentro Regional de Investigadores en Bienestar Animal América, 4–6 November, Valdivia, Chile.Google Scholar
Ferguson, D and Warner, R 2008. Have we underestimated the impact of pre-slaughter stress on meat quality in ruminants? Meat Science 80, 12–19.Google Scholar
Gallo, C 2007. Animal welfare in the Americas. In Compendium of technical items presented to the International Committee or to the Regional Commissions of the OIE (ed. OIE), pp. 151–166. World Animal Health Organization (OIE), Paris, France.Google Scholar
Gallo, C 2008. Using scientific evidence to inform public policy on the long distance transportation of animals in South America. Veterinaria Italiana 44, 113–120.Google Scholar
Gallo, C 2009. Bienestar animal y buenas prácticas de manejo animal relacionadas con la calidad de la carne. In Introducción a la ciencia de la carne (ed. G Bianchi and O Feed), pp. 455–494. Editorial Hemisferio Sur, Montevideo, Uruguay.Google Scholar
Gallo, C 2012. Bienestar animal y calidad de la carne en Latinoamérica. In Bienestar Animal, productividad y calidad de la carne (ed. D Mota-Rojas, SM Huertas, I Guerrero and ME Trujillo), pp. 3–24. Elsevier, Mexico City, Mexico.Google Scholar
Gallo, C, Altamirano, A and Uribe, H 2003a. Evaluación del bienestar animal durante el manejo de bovinos previo al faenamiento en una planta faenadora de carnes. In Proceedings of VI Jornadas Chilenas de Buiatría, 26–28 November, Pucón, Chile, pp. 107–108.Google Scholar
Gallo, C, Lizondo, G and Knowles, T 2003b. Effects of journey and lairage time on steers transported to slaughter in Chile. Veterinary Record 152, 361–364.Google Scholar
Gallo, C, Teuber, C, Cartes, M, Uribe, H and Grandin, T 2003c. Mejoras en la insensibilización de bovinos con pistola neumática de proyectil retenido tras cambios de equipamiento y capacitación del personal. Archivos de Medicina Veterinaria 35, 159–170.Google Scholar
Gallo, C and Cartes, M 2000. Insensibilización en bovinos: evaluación de la eficacia en el uso de la pistola de proyectil retenido en 3 plantas de la X Región. Paper presented at the XI Congreso Nacional de Medicina Veterinaria, 25–27 October, Santiago, Chile.Google Scholar
Gallo, C and Gatica, C 1995. Efectos del tiempo de ayuno sobre el peso vivo, de la canal y de algunos órganos en novillos. Archivos de Medicina Veterinaria 25, 69–77.Google Scholar
Gallo, C, Pérez, S, Sanhueza, C and Gasic, J 2000. Efectos del tiempo de transporte de novillos previo al faenamiento sobre el comportamiento, las pérdidas de peso y algunas características de la canal. Archivos de Medicina Veterinaria 32, 157–170.Google Scholar
Gallo, C, Tadich, T, Huertas, S, César, D, Paranhos Da Costa, M and Broom, DM 2010. Animal Welfare Education in Latin America. Proceedings of the First International Conference on Animal Welfare Education: Everyone is Responsible, 1–2 October, Brussels,Charlemagne, Belgium, pp. 90–97.Google Scholar
Gallo, C and Tadich, TA 2008. South America. In Long distance transport and welfare of farm animals (ed. MC Appleby, V Cussen, L Garcés, L Lambert and J Turner), pp. 261–287. CABI, Wallingford, UK.Google Scholar
Gallo, C, Warriss, PD, Knowles, T, Negrón, R, Valdés, A and Mencarini, I 2005. Densidades de carga utilizadas para el transporte de bovinos destinados a matadero en Chile. Archivos de Medicina Veterinaria 37, 155–159.Google Scholar
Grandin, T 1998. Objective scoring of animal holding and stunning practices at slaughter plants. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 212, 36–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grandin, T and Gallo, C 2007. Cattle transport. In Livestock handling and transport (ed. T Grandin), pp. 134–154. CABI, Wallingford, UK.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregory, N 1998. Animal welfare and the meat market. In Animal welfare and meat science (ed. N Gregory), pp. 1–14. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, Oxford, UK.Google Scholar
Herrera, C and Gallo, C 2009. Análisis descriptivo de la presentación de canales con pH elevado en bovinos de distinta procedencia geográfica y tiempo de espera prefaena. In Proceedings of XXXIV Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Chilena de Producción Animal, 21–23 October, Pucón, Chile, pp. 270–271.Google Scholar
Hoffman, DE, Spire, MF, Schwenke, JR and Unruh, JA 1998. Effect of source of cattle and distance transported to a commercial slaughter facility on carcass bruises in mature beef cows. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 212, 668–672.Google Scholar
Huertas, SM, Gallo, C and Galindo, F 2014. Drivers of animal welfare policy in the Americas. Revue scientifique et technique Office international des Epizooties 33, 67–76.Google Scholar
Huertas, SM, Gil, A, Suanes, A, Cernicchiaro, N, Zaffaroni, R, de Freitas, J and Invernizzi, I 2003. Estudio de los factores asociados a la presencia de lesiones traumáticas en carcasas de bovinos faenados en Uruguay. In Proceedings of VI Jornadas Chilenas de Buiatría, 26–28 November, Pucón, Chile, pp.117–118.Google Scholar
Huertas, SM, Gil, AD, Piaggio, JM and Eerdenburg, FJCM 2010. Transportation of beef cattle to slaughterhouses and how this relates to animal welfare and carcase bruising in an extensive production system. Animal Welfare 18, 281–285.Google Scholar
Mamani-Linares, LW and Gallo, C 2014. A note on the effects of pre-slaughter operations of llamas (Lama glama) on the concentrations of some blood constituents related to stress and carcass quality. Archivos de Medicina Veterinaria 46, 463–469.Google Scholar
Mc Veigh, JM and Tarrant, PV 1982. Glycogen content and repletion rates in beef muscle, effects of feeding and fasting. Journal of Nutrition 112, 1306–1314.Google Scholar
Muñoz, D, Strappini, AC and Gallo, C 2012. Indicadores de bienestar animal para detectar problemas en el cajón de insensibilización de bovinos. Archivos de Medicina Veterinaria 44, 297–302.Google Scholar
Navarro, G, Gallo, C and Strappini, A 2007. Efectos de la provisión de agua y disponibilidad de espacio sobre el comportamiento y variables sanguíneas durante el transporte prolongado de corderos. In Proceedings of XXXII Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Chilena de Producción Animal, 14–16 November, Frutillar, Chile, pp. 163–164.Google Scholar
Organización Mundial de Sanidad Animal (OIE) 2013. Código Sanitario para los Animales Terrestres, Volumen 1, Título 7, Bienestar de los animales, pp. 297–426. World Animal Health Organization (OIE), Paris, France.Google Scholar
Opitz, C, Strappini, A, Vargas, R and Gallo, C 2012. Análisis descriptivo de las conductas realizadas por las vacas durante el periodo de espera en corrales de una planta faenadora. Paper presented at the17º Congreso Chileno de Medicina Veterinaria, 18–20 November, Valdivia, Chile.Google Scholar
Paranhos Da Costa, M, Huertas, S, Gallo, C and Dalla Costa, O 2012. Strategies to promote farm animal welfare in Latin America and their effects on carcass and meat quality traits. Meat Science 92, 221–226.Google Scholar
Ramírez, MF and Gallo, C 2012. Evaluación preliminar del bienestar animal en una planta de faenamiento en Colombia. Paper presented at the17º Congreso Chileno de Medicina Veterinaria, 18–20 November, Valdivia, Chile.Google Scholar
Romero, MH, Uribe, LF and Sánchez, JA 2012. Evaluación de la conducta y las prácticas de manejo durante el sacrificio bovino, como indicadores de bienestar animal. Revista CES Medicina Veterinaria Zootecnia 7, 22–29.Google Scholar
Romero, MH, Uribe-Velásquez, LF, Sánchez, JA and Miranda-De La Lama, G 2013. Risk factors influencing bruising and highmuscle pH in Colombian cattle due to transport and preslaughter operations. Meat Science 95, 256–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strappini, AC, Frankena, K, Metz, JHM, Gallo, C and Kemp, B 2012. Characteristics of bruises in carcasses of cows sourced from farms or from livestock markets. Animal 6, 502–509.Google Scholar
Strappini, AC, Frankena, K, Metz, JHM, Gallo, CB and Kemp, B 2010. Prevalence and risk factors for bruises in Chilean bovine carcasses. Meat Science 86, 859–864.Google Scholar
Strappini, AC, Gallo, C, Cáraves, M, Barrientos, A, Allende, R, Chacón, F and Briones, I 2007. Relevamiento preliminar del transporte de ganado ovino en la XII Región, Chile: vehículos y manejo de los animales durante la descarga. In Proceedings of XXXII Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Chilena de Producción Animal, 14–16 November, Frutillar, Chile, pp. 191–192.Google Scholar
Strappini, AC, Metz, JHM, Gallo, C, Frankena, K, Vargas, R, de Freslon, I and Kemp, B 2013. Bruises in culled cows: when, where and how are they inflicted? Animal 7, 485–491.Google Scholar
Strappini, AC, Metz, JHM, Gallo, C and Kemp, B 2009. Origin and assessment of bruises in beef cattle at slaughter. Animal 3, 728–736.Google Scholar
Tadich, N, Alvarado, M and Gallo, C 2000. Efectos de 36 horas de transporte terrestre con y sin descanso sobre algunas variables indicadoras de estrés en bovinos. Archivos de Medicina Veterinaria 32, 171–183.Google Scholar
Tadich, N, Gallo, C, Brito, M and Broom, D 2009. Effect of weaning and 48 h transport by road and ferry on some blood indicators of welfare in lambs. Livestock Science 121, 132–136.Google Scholar
Tadich, N, Gallo, C, Bustamante, H, Schwerter, M and Van Schaik, G 2005. Effects of transport and lairage time on some blood constituents of Friesian cross steers in Chile. Livestock Production Science 93, 223–233.Google Scholar
Tadich, N, Gallo, C, Knowles, T, Uribe, H and Aranis, A 2003a. Efecto de dos densidades de carga usadas para el transporte de novillos, sobre algunos indicadores sanguíneos de estrés. In Proceedings of XXVIII Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Chilena de Producción Animal, 15–17 October, Talca, Chile, pp. 175–176.Google Scholar
Tadich, N, Gallo, C, Echeverría, R and Van Schaik, G 2003b. Efecto del ayuno durante dos tiempos de confinamiento y de transporte terrestre sobre algunas variables sanguíneas indicadoras de estrés en novillos. Archivos de Medicina Veterinaria 35, 171–185.Google Scholar
Tarumán, J 2013. Factores que afectan el bienestar animal y la calidad de la carne ovina durante el proceso de transporte a la planta faenadora: caso de Tierra del Fuego, Chile. MSc Thesis, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile.Google Scholar
Tarumán, JA and Gallo, C 2008. Contusiones en canales ovinas y su relación con el transporte. Archivos de Medicina Veterinaria 40, 275–279.Google Scholar
Vargas, R 2014. Características macro y microscópicas de las contusiones en canales bovinas y su relación con la antigüedad de la lesión. MSc Thesis, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile.Google Scholar
Werner, M, Hepp, C, Soto, C, Gallardo, P, Bustamante, H and Gallo, C 2013. Effects of a long distance transport and subsequent recovery in recently weaned crossbred beef calves in Southern Chile. Livestock Science 152, 42–46.Google Scholar