37 Swine Welfare, Sow Comfort/Housing, Euthanasia Techniques

1. minimize aggression and competition

2. protect from weather extremes

3. reduce injury/pain/disease

4. provide daily access to food and water

5. facilitate daily observation of individuals

6. promote good air quality and sanitation

7. allow normal patterns of behavior

What are the minimum requirements that all sow housing systems should have as defined by AASV and AVMA:

a. promote good quality air and sanitation

c. facilitate daily observation of individuals

e. protect from weather extremes

f. minimize pain, aggression, and injury

Select the minimum requirements all sow housing systems should have as defined by AASV and AVMA:

a. promote good quality air and sanitation

b. must have electronic sow feeders to increase feed efficiency

c. facilitate daily observation of individuals

d. allow each breeding sow to have 24 square feet of space

e. protect from weather extremes

f. minimize pain, aggression, and injury

Individual stalls and group pens

What are the two housing options for pregnant sows during gestation?

1. individualized nutrition and health monitoring

2. protect from injury (sow and people)

3. efficient use of building space

4. higher fertility

Why do some people prefer gestation stalls?

Sow aggression and food competition: they fight and bash heads to establish dominance. stalls stop this

What main welfare issue do gestation stalls FIX in pigs?

Teat rank formed by first week of life (more cranial teats are better)

What is established in piglets by the end of their first week of life in relation to social hierarchy?

Restricted movement, limited social interaction

What challenges arise with individual gestation stalls for pigs, causing increased public scrutiny?

There is increased competition of resources, increased biting, scratching, lameness, and injury

Groups gestation pens of sows allow more room to move and social interaction, but what is the downside of this?

Electronic sow feeder

What recent development is helping to fight the food competition that comes with group pen sow housing, where the sows have individual ear tags that this device reads, allowing one pig in at a time to eat?

Caretaker skill to provide welfare

What determines the "best sow housing"?

Proposition 12 (Farm Animal Confinement Act)

Which 2018 act required each breeding sow to have 24 square feet of space, otherwise California would not allow the sale of the pig (even from those out of state selling into the state)?

Caretakers and producers perform euthanasia

Is it not usually possible for the veterinarian to be available for timely euthanasia for every pig. What is done instead?

Quick, effective, reliable

(minimal pain, rapid loss of consciousness, quick death)

In order for euthanasia to be considered humane, what factors must be met?

2 days

Pigs that have no prospect for improvement and are not responding to treatment after HOW MANY DAYS of intensive care are considered for timely euthanasia?

BCS 1

Any non-ambulatory pig with a BCS of WHAT is considered for timely euthanasia?

a. gunshot

Select the APPROVED method of euthanasia for pigs who are nursery age or older:

a. gunshot

b. non-penetrating captive bold

c. penetrating captive bolt

d. electrocution (head to heart of head only)

e. veterinarian administered anesthetic overdose

f. manual blunt force trauma

b. non-penetrating captive bold

Select the APPROVED method of euthanasia for pigs who are less than 70 lbs:

a. gunshot

b. non-penetrating captive bold

c. penetrating captive bolt

d. electrocution (head to heart of head only)

e. veterinarian administered anesthetic overdose

f. manual blunt force trauma

c. penetrating captive bolt

Select the APPROVED method of euthanasia for pigs who are more than 12 lbs:

a. gunshot

b. non-penetrating captive bold

c. penetrating captive bolt

d. electrocution (head to heart of head only)

e. veterinarian administered anesthetic overdose

f. manual blunt force trauma

d. electrocution (head to heart of head only)

Select the APPROVED method of euthanasia for pigs who are over 3 days of age:

a. gunshot

b. non-penetrating captive bold

c. penetrating captive bolt

d. electrocution (head to heart or head only)

e. veterinarian administered anesthetic overdose

f. manual blunt force trauma

f. manual blunt force trauma

Select the APPROVED method of euthanasia for pigs who are up to 12 lbs:

a. gunshot

b. non-penetrating captive bold

c. penetrating captive bolt

d. electrocution (head to heart of head only)

e. veterinarian administered anesthetic overdose

f. manual blunt force trauma

a. CO2 (may not work as well over 70 lbs)

e. veterinarian administered anesthetic overdose

Select the APPROVED method of euthanasia for pigs who are all ages:

a. CO2

b. non-penetrating captive bold

c. penetrating captive bolt

d. electrocution (head to heart of head only)

e. veterinarian administered anesthetic overdose

f. manual blunt force trauma

CO2

What is the preferred method of humane euthanasia for piglets?

CO2, gunshot, nonpenetrative AND penetrative captive bolt, electrocution, veterinarian administered anesthetic overdose, manual blunt force trauma

Name the approved methods of humane euthanasia in pigs

Manual blunt force trauma

Which method of euthanasia is technically considered humane but producers try to avoid is because it looks barbaric and is extremely poorly perceived by the public

Penetrative captive bolt in pigs greater than 12 lbs

What is this the landmark for?

DEPOPULATION and Ventilation Shutdown +

The issue with COVID in pig production was that it caused "stopped movement welfare issues", because pigs could not move from one phase of pig production to the other. This caused WHAT to happen to a lot of pigs?

1. Change diet/nutrition to slow growth

2. stop breeding sows

3. prioritize heavier pigs to be sent off to market

If movement is stopped from one phase of pig production to the next, what can you try BEFORE depopulation?

Depopulation

What is described as "destruction of population in response to urgent circumstances with as much consideration give to the welfare of the animals as is practical"

Euthanasia

What is described as "a humane process whereby the pig is rendered insensible, with minimal pain and distress until death"

FALSE

TRUE OR FALSE: depopulation and euthanasia are the same thing

Ventilation Shunt Down + = shutting off ventilation while pumping in either heat or CO2

VSD+ is a method of EMERGENCY LAST DITCH depopulation. What is it?

VSD+ last option as long as facility can increase the temperature enough for 95% of the animals to die in less than 1 hour

The AASV says VSD+ is only used as last a resort for depopulation if the facility can kill HOW MANY PIGS with it in less than an hour?

Veterinarians MUST supervise, facilities cannot perform these acts on their own

Who MUST supervise the VSD+ process?

"We Care" initiative

What is the slogan of the Pork Industry?