Pig slaughtering procedures: time to loss of brain responsiveness after exsanguination of cardiac arrest.
The time taken for a conventional chest stick to produce the loss of flash-evoked responsiveness in the electrocorticogram of anaesthetised pigs was compared with a method involving fibrillation of the heart. On average severing the brachiocephalic trunk and anterior vena cava took 18 seconds to induce a loss of brain responsiveness, and inducing cardiac fibrillation took 19 seconds. It is concluded that a pig slaughtering method that stuns the brain and at the same time fibrillates the heart is likely to be more humane than the conventional slaughtering methods where there is a delay between the stunning and sticking operations.
S B
SB
Wotton
N G
NG
Gregory
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D002417:Cattle / Q000502:physiology; D003643:Death; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004569:Electroencephalography; D006324:Heart Arrest, Induced / Q000662:veterinary*; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000662:veterinary*; D012756:Sheep / Q000502:physiology; D013552:Swine / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors