TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE .................................................................... 3 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Ethical, Regulatory and Economic Considerations .................................................................................. 4 Management Commitment ...................................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 1: GENERAL LIVESTOCK HANDLING ................................................................................... 6 Section 1: Recommended Livestock Handling Principles ....................................................................... 6 Section 2: Livestock Driving Tools ........................................................................................................ 10 Section 3: Willful Acts of Abuse/Egregious Acts ................................................................................... 12 Section 4: Developing an Emergency Livestock Management Plan ..................................................... 13 CHAPTER 2: TRANSPORTATION PRACTICES ..................................................................................... 14 Section 1: General Transportation Considerations ............................................................................... 14 Section 2: Temperature Management During Transport ....................................................................... 15 Section 3: Timeliness of Arrival and Wait Time to Unload .................................................................... 17 Section 4: Non-Ambulatory Animals on Trucks .................................................................................... 18 Section 5: Euthanizing Animals on Trucks or In the Yards ................................................................... 18 CHAPTER 3: HUMANE HANDLING AND STUNNING AT THE PLANT .................................................. 19 Section 1: Proper Design and Use of Restraints .................................................................................. 19 Section 2: Recommended Stunning Practices ...................................................................................... 21 Section 3: How to Determine Insensibility and the Signs of Return to Sensibility .................................. 30 Section 4: Religious Slaughter (Kosher and Halal) ............................................................................... 35 Section 5: Recommended Handling of Disabled or Compromised Livestock ........................................ 40 CHAPTER 4: TRANSPORTATION AUDIT GUIDELINES ........................................................................ 42 Section 1: Auditor Instructions and Information .................................................................................... 42 Section 2: Completing the Transportation Audit Form .......................................................................... 43 Section 3: Scoring the Audit ................................................................................................................. 44 Core Criterion 1: Plant Transportation Policy and Preparedness for Receiving Animals ....................... 44 Core Criterion 2: Set-up and Loading of Trailer .................................................................................... 47 Core Criterion 3: Wait Time to Unload .................................................................................................. 49 Core Criterion 4: Falls .......................................................................................................................... 50 Core Criterion 5: Electric Prod Use ...................................................................................................... 51 Core Criterion 6: Condition of Animal ................................................................................................... 52 Core Criterion 7: Willful Acts of Abuse/Egregious Acts ......................................................................... 54 CHAPTER 5: AUDITING ANIMAL HANDLING AND STUNNING AT THE PLANT .................................. 55 Section 1: Auditing Instructions ............................................................................................................ 55 Section 2: Auditing Multiple Factors Simultaneously ............................................................................ 55 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED Section 3: Scoring of Small Plants ........................................................................................................ 56 Core Criterion 1: Willful Acts of Abuse/Egregious Acts ......................................................................... 57 Core Criterion 2: Access to Water ........................................................................................................ 57 Core Criterion 3: Falling ........................................................................................................................ 57 Core Criterion 4: Electric Prod Use ....................................................................................................... 58 Core Criterion 5: Vocalization and Gondola Loading ............................................................................ 59 Core Criterion 6: Effective Stunning ...................................................................................................... 62 Core Criterion 7: Bleed Rail Insensibility ............................................................................................... 64 GLOSSARY OF TERMS ........................................................................................................................... 66 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................................... 67 APPENDIX I: DESIGNING FACILITIES FOR OPTIMAL HANDLING ....................................................... 73 Pen space and Stocking Density ........................................................................................................... 73 Recommended Handling Facility Layout................................................................................................ 73 Unloading Facility Design ...................................................................................................................... 74 APPENDIX II: TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE .......................................................................................... 75 Finding Distractions that Hinder Easy Movement .................................................................................. 75 Resolving Problems in Center Track Conveyor Restrainer Systems and V-Belt Restrainer Systems for Cattle, Pigs, and Sheep ..................................................................................................... 75 Resolving Electrical Stunning Problems ................................................................................................ 77 Resolving Captive Bolt Stunning Problems ............................................................................................ 77 Resolving CO2 Stunning Problems ........................................................................................................ 78 APPENDIX III: WORKER SAFETY TIPS FOR ANIMAL HANDLERS AND STUNNERS .......................... 79 Livestock Facility and Trucking .............................................................................................................. 79 Electric Stunning of Sheep and Pigs ...................................................................................................... 79 Captive Bolt Stunning ............................................................................................................................ 79 Safe Livestock Handling ........................................................................................................................ 79 Religious Slaughter Practices ................................................................................................................ 80 APPENDIX IV: OFFICIAL NORTH AMERICAN MEAT INSTITUTE AUDIT FORMS ................................ 81 Cattle Transportation Audit Form ........................................................................................................... 82 Pig Transportation Audit Form ............................................................................................................... 88 Sheep Transportation Audit Form .......................................................................................................... 94 Cattle and Calves Slaughter Audit Form .............................................................................................. 100 Pig Slaughter Audit Form .................................................................................................................... 108 Sheep Slaughter Audit Form ............................................................................................................... 119 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of 1958 was the first federal law governing the handling of livestock in meat plants. The 1958 law applied only to livestock slaughtered for sale to the government. In 1978, the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act was reauthorized to cover all livestock slaughtered