Developments in humane slaughtering techniques for poultry

Description

Stunning of animals before slaughtering is now gaining global acceptance. It is being recognized as a humane slaughtering technique. This chapter discovers that cruelty to animals can be prevented and animals can be well protected by induction of unconsciousness as the first and enduring stage of the process of killing. Loss of consciousness will occur without pain. Most permitted killing methods comprise a set of effective stunning methods and this chapter describes the various stunning methods like electrical stunning, gas stunning, maceration, concussive stunning, to name a few.

Table of contents

1 Introduction
2 The physiological basis of stunning
3 Electrical stunning methods
4 Gas stunning systems
5 Other systems: maceration, manual neck dislocation, concussive stunning and low atmosphere pressure systems
6 Future trends
7 Where to look for further information
8 References