Pig welfare challenges & euthanasia

What are the non-routine mutilations carried out?

• Teeth reduction in piglets (deciduous —> point out sideways) —> fighting for teat; some piglets end up small

  • teeth clipping —> multiple little clips w/ v sharp pliers to take off tip of teeth little by little

  • Just big litters?

  • Teeth grinding —> blunts end of teeth

    • don’t want to stop natural behaviour of fighting for teeth

• Tail docking (within first 3d —> red tractor)

  • May see some tail biting

    

• Ear notching

• Castration (not allowed to surgically castrate as pet pig owner w/ red tractor)

need specific reasons to carry out any of above

Can hormone growth promoters be used in EU?

Banned for use of growth promotion in EU since the 80s

What are the five freedoms

• Hunger & Thirst

• Discomfort

• Pain, injury & disease

• Fear & distress

• To express normal behaviour

What are the signs of good health?

• Bright Responsive

• Eating/drinking well

• Quiet, settled breathing

• Normal colour/consistency of muck

• Normal urine

• Good skin & colour

• ‘Barking’

• Normal temp

How to approach to sick / injured pigs?

What can be used to restrain pigs?

• Snare

• Pig boards

• Environ —> walkways, gates

• Crates — farrowing, free access

• Crowding

• Holding

What would you do with these two pigs?

Left —> treat & keep in pen

Right —> euthanise

How do you deal with hernias?

Small —> not a welfare issue

Medium —> can get intestinal torsions

Large —> euthanasia

What do you think is causing this?

• Stricture —> euthanasia

• Swollen abdomen but loss of condition (spine)

What is being shown here?

Human induced —> baling twine around snout (top pic) / leg (bottom pic)

What are the red tractor requirements for euthanasia?

• A documented Euthanasia Policy must be in place

• Formally trained person if unsupervised by vet (competence reassessed q. 2 yrs)

• Do away from public access and away from other animals (if possible)

When would you carry out an emergency kill?

Animals which are injured / have a dx ass. w/ severe pain / suffering & where there is no other practical possibility to alleviate this pain or suffering

What is death?

Irreversible loss of all function in brainstem responsible for control

• Loss of heart beat or breathing eventually leads to brain death from lack of O2

• brain death → lack of spontaneous breathing which → lack of O2 to heart & cardiac arrest

How does a captive bolt work?

• Rapid acceleration of skull

• Lag of brain —> brain strikes skull

• Sudden incr in ICP

• Disruption in normal electrical activity

• Damage to nerves & BVs from shearing forces & actual bold itself

• Length of time of unconsciousness depends on severity of damage

Where would you like to shoot the captive bolt?

The lower line is older pigs

20mm above eye-level, on the mid-line of the forehead, aiming towards the tail

What are the signs of an effective stun?

Pig collapses immediately

What are the features of the tonic phase?

• Stops breathing, becomes rigid w/ head raised, forelegs extended and hindlimbs flexed

• eyes fixed & immobile, staring w/ no blink reflex

What are the features of the clonic phase?

Unconscious but mm. start to relax (incl. Bladder so may get urination), then involuntary kicking occurs, lasting up to 1-2 mins

When can an animal recover?

• Within 30-60 seconds

• Blink reflex returning —> you would want to stun again

• also rhythmic breathing

What does the effectiveness of the stun depend on?

• Correct positioning —> site & angle

• Speed of bolt force —> size of cartridge & correct maintenance of equipment

• A static head (make sure you always use a snitch)

pig most difficult animal to stun correctly

What are the different ways to convert stun to kill?

• Ensure brain stem destruction by pithing

  • vigorois to-and-fro movements w/ pithing rod

• Bleeding out (lack of O2) —> cut across neck ear to ear

What do you check to ensure death?

• Fixed eye, no blink —> check by touching front of eyeball

• No breathing —> watch chest

• No heart beat —> check by feeling between ribs w/ fingers on downward side of chest

How would you kill an animal with a free bullet?

• Done w/ rifle / shotgun

• Same site & angle as w/ a captive bolt gun

• Alternative option behind the ear & aiming for opposite eye (don't have to restrain them for this)

  

What are the different ways to carry out piglet euthanasia?

• SA tool —> looks like a captive bolt but non penetrating (convex end)

  • Need restrains and accurate aim (slightly higher & vertical towards the back of the mouth)

  • Place piglet head on solid surface & hang body, keep hand out of way

  • Relying on swelling in the skull to compress the brainstem

  • Good for 0.5kg-3.5kg

• Blunt force trauma (under 5kg) —> absolute emergency only

  • hit w/ blunt object / against one

• Barbiturate overdose (vet only) —> intracardiac / intraperiotenal

• Gassing (O2 / nitrogen) = currently illegal on farm

Who can give a vet authority to euthanise an animal?

• Owner

• Police officer

  (cannot do it without this)