Ciencias Agropecuarias
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Item Evaluación de bienestar animal durante el aturdimiento de bovinos sacrificados en un Centro de Faenamiento Municipal(2018) Villarroel Burgos, Karen Mishelle; Guevara Freire, Deysi AlexandraThe observation at the Puyo slaughter plant indicated that it is necessary to improve the stunning of the cattle so that it becomes insensitive before slaughter. The objective of this study was to determine if animal welfare standards were met, through sensitivity indicators and head inspection. During the stunning process, data from a total of 100 cattle were recorded in the slaughter plant. One hundred cattle were evaluated for baseline data; general information was recorded on the characteristics of the nozzle box and the compressed air gun used in the plant, in addition to specific antecedents such as: number of shots required until the animal falls, presence of signs indicating sensitivity (rhythmic breathing, vocalization, corneal reflex and eye movement, attempt to stop or elevation of the head), interval of time between the first shot and bleeding, and aiming the operator (knockout). It was determined that the stunning box did not have a headrest and the pneumatic stunner was powered by the same air compressor that uses all the pneumatic equipment in the cattle slaughtering plant. A descriptive analysis was used to compare results with existing reference data. The data obtained indicated that only 52% of the cattle collapsed instantaneously after one shot and the remaining 48% required 2 or more shots. The vocalization occurred in 27% of the cattle after stunning and 37% of the cattle had corneal reflexes, 41% rhythmic breathing presence was found, an attempt to raise the head in the bleeding rail (44%). The time interval between first shot and bleeding was measured with a chronometer, establishing the most frequent range between 1 and 2 minutes. Subsequently, the skinned and cut heads were inspected in the slaughter room, and the distance between the point called "white" (rostral region between the first and second pair of cranial nerves called percussion point) and the hole (s) of shots present was measured with a transparent plastic target. Regarding the presence of holes in the target, 4% was obtained, the remaining percentage (96%) of the holes were located more than 2 cm, which evidenced a deficiency in the aim.