SLAUGHTERING OF STOCK.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXVI, Issue 3, 20 March 1923, Page 160

SLAUGHTERING OF STOCK.

WHICH IS THE MOST HUMANE METHOD ?

. Paper read by Major wilmot c. quinnell, m.r.c.v.s., m.r.s.i., at the meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, Wellington (N.Z.), January, 1923. ' When Dr. Reakes, Director-General of the New Zealand Department of Agriculture, did me the honour of inviting me to present some paper for discussion at this meeting of the Veterinary Section of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science it appeared to. me that the subject indicated in the title would be an appropriate one to submit at this juncture, for the following reasons : Firstly, as far as I have been able to ascertain, the technique of slaughtering, stock for food has not been discussed by any previous gathering of professional men, although articles bearing on the matter have appeared from time to. time in the New Zealand Press. Secondly, owing to the existing Government veterinary inspection of meat at all abattoirs and meat-works throughout the Australian States and New Zealand, I may safely remark that all we veterinarians at this meeting have at some time or other been employed in this highly important branch of the meat industry. Thirdly, it is a subject of some moment in England at the present time, as will be seen from the report published in the Veterinary Record of the 9th" September, 1922, of the deliberations of the annual meeting .of the National Veterinary Medical Association, held in the Guildhall, Bath, on the 2nd August, 1922, at which the following resolution was agreed to : As there is a great diversity of opinion on the question of the humane slaughtering of animals intended for human food, and the subsequent effect on the flesh of the various methods used, we suggest that a Government Committee of inquiry be instituted to investigate the whole subject; the Committee to consist of members of all professions and trades interested. • During that discussion General Sir L. Blenkinsop read an extract from a letter to the Daily Mail by the secretary of the Association of London Retail Meat Traders, as follows : With regard to the mechanical killer, the meat trade takes up this strong and unanswerable positionnamely, that an inquiry must be held by the Government into the whole question of the use of mechanical implements in slaughtering. All reliable scientific opinion is, however, on the side of the pole-axe for slaughtering animals intended for food, and there is also ample evidence, from the men’s point of view, that they consider the mechanical slaughtering implement to be dangerous. It is apparent from these extracts that what is sought is the most humane method of killing stock at slaughtering-establishments. In the word “ humane ” we understand to be implied an active endeavour to discover and relieve animal-suffering, and especially to prevent it. As the world advanced in civilization, and social and humane instincts developed, the subject of animal rights and cruelty to dumb animals has attracted the attention of thinkers from. earliest times. One of the maxims of the Buddhist and Pythagorean canons was “ not to kill or injure any innocent animal.” The rights of animals now are

subordinate to almost anything that can be construed into a human “ want ” or consideration, including flesh-eating, fur- and featherwearing, hunting, and scientific research to save man from disease or prolong life.

The thought of pain among dumb creatures distresses many minds, but there is every reason to believe that pain among animals is less acute than in human beings. In order to live, man must kill, but in doing so his methods should be as merciful as those shown by animals that live upon other living creatures. To illustrate this I take the following extract from a most admirable article by a natural historian, Ernest Bryant, in My Magazine :

There comes to the memory, as we run the mind’s eye over the flesh-eaters and preying animals, not so much a thrill of horror at their deeds, but a sense of wonder at their efficiency and unerring skill in causing swift, sudden, painless death. It is one of the most astonishing things in the world that dumb brutes show as sure an instinct for an instant, fatal blow as if they had studied anatomy at one of our hospitals. A stoat knows exactly how to inflict instantaneous death upon a rabbit or a hare. - An eagle or a raven goes as surely to the right spot for attack upon a fallen deer or weakening sheep as a fox goes to the fatal spot in a domestic fowl; and a humble spider, spinning her silken web in our garden, is unerring in her death-stroke as a cheetah that fastens its teeth in the straining throat .of a buck. Whether , the wound is made with sledge-hammer paws and vice-like jaws, or with the poison fang and stiletto of the insect, the end is almost certain of terrible but painless suddenness. Now, there is mercy in this. There is no conscious pity in a tiger, but it is so extraordinarily fitted to its volcanic outbursts of power that it kills too soon to hurt. It . has such strength that it might hold its victim by means of its grapnel-like claws and munch it alive, but, as a rule, it instantly kills. A python has such appalling force that it could swallow its prey alive, but, throwing itself like a cowboy’s lasso around the body, it gives one convulsive strain, then crunch, crack, and life. is in a second squeezed from the victim’s body. These things have been and must be. We find the lower world as devoid of mercy in intent as it is among cannibal human beings, and it shocks and stuns a civilized mind. But as these things must be, then it is consoling to believe that death comes to the victims with such a rush of expert art as to be painless, or at worst only the overpowering agony of a fleeting second. Thus, in so refining the implements of destruction in -the slayers, in so incredibly perfecting the instinct for the right blow at the right place at the right moment, Nature is kind in her seeming cruelty. MATTERS RELATING TO KILLING. Before entering upon the question,of various methods of slaughter it is essential to give a , few introductory and explanatory notes on certain matters relating to killing, and thus avoid repetition when each system is brought under review.

Operation of Bleeding. This is carried out by the opening of the (a) throat or cervical blood-vessels, or (b) chest or the anterior thoracic blood-vessels, its completeness depending on the following conditions : In all methods involving the destruction or injury of the brain there is danger of defective bleeding, as is the case with shooting, pole-axing, pithing with a spear-the animal drops in convulsions. The practice of “fidging ” using a cane 3 ft. long and thrusting it through the hole made by the pole-axe or through the incision made at the nape of the neck —by the action it produces on the body, breaking up nerve influences to blood-vessels, hinders blood-flow, and bleeding is incomplete. Animals whose heart receives a wound with the sticking-knife, termed “ overstuck,” will not bleed completely. With fatigue, excitement, or overheating (thermic fever), bleeding is incomplete. In bleeding, the

posture of the animal is a matter of some importance ;■ the recumbent position is associated with diminished force of the circulation, and should therefore be avoided.

Speaking generally, the blood constitutes about one-twelfth of the total weight of the body. The amount of blood drawn at the time of sticking varies with the size, age, and accuracy of sticking, with the condition of the animal, and the length of time that has elapsed since it has taken food and drink. The quantity of blood, roughly speaking, may be put down as : In a young animal, eighteen months old, about 21 to 3 gallons ; in a three-year-old bullock, about 4 gallons ; and in aged milking-cows, sometimes 4J. to 5 gallons. The rate of movement of the blood through the arteries is estimated to be about 1 ft. 8 in. per second, and through the capillaries at about 1 in. per minute.

. Effects < of Struggling or Convulsions. — Liebig, in his “ Letter on Chemistry,” mentions the case in which the flesh of a roebuck, which had struggled after having been caught in. a snare, gave rise to symptoms of poisoning. According to Gautier, pigs have been fatally poisoned through being fed upon the flesh of a horse which had died during its struggles when being broken in ; and, like Liebig, he has known of cases of human poisoning by the flesh of roebucks which had been in a state of terror or exhaustion. From these and many other cases that could be cited there can be little doubt that harmful physiological alkaloids are elaborated by cells of living animals, through undue violent movements of the muscular system during the process of slaughter, as in the cases of (a) roping and throwing a bullock preparatory to killing, and its striving to get free ; (&) the use of the pole-axe and bullet-firing appliances, when the animal drops in convulsions ; (c) the unnecessary practice of fidging, producing violent spasms of the muscular system ; (d) the struggles of death namely, the convulsions which declare themselves as a prelude to death. All these conditions may be avoided or minimized by causing concussion of the brain. Reflex Action, Movement, or Motion. — In physiology this means those comparatively simple actions of the nervous system in which a stimulus is transmitted along sensory nerves to a nerve-centre, from which again it is reflected along efferent nerves to call into play some muscular, glandular, or other activity. The actions are performed involuntarily and often unconsciously, as is the contraction of the pupil of the eye when exposed to strong light. Cadaveric Rigidity, “ Setting,” or Rigor Mortis. This condition is the characteristic stiffening of the body caused by the contraction of the muscles. after death. It comes on more or less speedily according to temperature or climate, and also after death under different methods of slaughter of which circumstances also influence its intensity and duration. It is retarded by cold, but in very hot weather the rigor is slight and brief, or may hardly be appreciable. . The relaxation of the carcase as the rigor passes off is one of the earliest signs of incipient decomposition. These phases of the subject are of some importance in considering the merits and . demerits of various methods of slaughter, when reference is made to duration of bleeding,” " duration of reflex,” “amount of blood,” and "keeping-qualities of meat.”

METHODS OF SLAUGHTERING.

(i.) Pole-axing, followed by Bleeding. This is the usual method of slaughtering cattle in England. The implement of knocking-down is a bull-head axe or pole-axe, a weapon or tool consisting of an axe-head, on a long handle, combined with a blade like a pick or punch.- After the animal is secured by being tied with a rope round the neck to a ring in the wall or floor, the slaughterman strikes it on the forehead with the pole-axe, the punch end of which crashes through the frontal bone into the brain-case, mutilating the brain-substance. On the beast falling to the ground it is immediately pithed, after which the fidging-cane is thrust through the incision at the nape of the -neck and vigorously worked about until the limbmovements cease. The butcher then sticks the beast by severing the anterior thoracic vessels, when the life-blood gushes out. The average duration of bleeding is about two to three minutes.

Similar disadvantages apply to this method of slaughter, but in somewhat lesser degree, as are found in the use of mechanical killers that cause mutilation to the brain and, together with the practice of fidging, bring about a. condition hindering complete bleeding of the carcase. Again, the operations of pole-axing and bleeding are carried out on the same floor ; the recumbent position of the body on the floor does not facilitate accurate sticking, as it at times causes the unsightly condition termed “ bodying ” (blood-effusion under the membrane lining the chest-cavity). (2,1) Pithing or Spearing, followed by Bleeding. This is the usual method in vogue throughout the slaughterhouses and meat-works of Australasia. The instrument is a spear, consisting of a long pole with a chisel-shaped steel attachment at one end of it. The butcher stands on a plank in the pithing-pen, just above the head of the animal, and thrusts his . spear-end into the space or hollow at the base of the skull, dividing or injuring the spinal cord at its junction with the brain. . * The animal immediately drops. The slaughterman enters the pen and completes the pithing operation by a stab with a sharp-pointed knife in the occipital region. The animal is then pulled out of the pithing-pen on to the dressing-floor, where the fidging-cane comes into operation, after which it is bled, being stuck in the thoracic region.

A very important objection to this mode of killing is that on the animal being stabbed with the spear it drops in convulsions, in many cases lasting a considerable time, depending on the degree of injury to the spinal cord. Apart from the actual system, it is the practice in some slaughtering establishments to run a number of cattle into the pithingpen at one time, so that the killing of one is done within the sight of the others, which causes them much unnecessary suffering while waiting their turn. Further, the use of the spear or pither must be in skilled hands. Sometimes even an efficient operator misses the vital spot ; in such cases the animal becomes infuriated, and the. slaughterman may lose his temper, with the result that his poor victim receives many stabs before it is finally despatched. Pithed or speared animals do not seem to bleed so well; ? spearing causes the retention of much blood

in and around the neck region, giving rise to a condition of “dirty neck,” which becomes more noticeable and detracts from the appearance of frozen fore quarters on their being thawed for sale. b. (3.) direct Bleeding, Cervical or Thoracic, without Stunning or Shooting. This is the common method of slaughtering sheep, and, in some places, calves and pigs. ■ It is also practised by the Jews, .Mohammedans, and races of a number of other countries .for the . slaughter .of all animals intended for food. ‘-'iv., ; >rh no ...

Sheep : The animal is cast on its side on a wood grating, and is held firmly by the slaughterman placing the weight of his knee on the sheep’s shoulder. . He grasps the chin with his left hand, at the same time bending its head back to extreme tightness. The knife is then sharply run across the throat, severing the windpipe and the principal blood-vessels and the spinal cord as well, as he forcibly dislocates the neck of the animal. The sheep bleeds into a special blood-drain for collection, while the sliding-door of the waiting-pen is pulled down on the body, which holds it fast during the death-struggles. Calves : These animals are usually hung up by the hind legs, and sometimes they are stunned by a blow on the head with an axe-head ; in other cases they are pithed with a knife-stab at the nape of the neck ; in yet other cases they are bled without previous stunning or pithing. Pigs: The method of slaughtering pigs at bacon-factories and abattoirs consists in the animal being hoisted by means of a chain (which in turn is attached to the drum of a windlass worked by hand) by one of the hind legs to an overhead bar. The moment it reaches this bar the slaughterman sticks the pig -with a sharp narrow-bladed knife, severing the anterior thoracic vessels. In reference to sheep and calves, the method of slaughter bleeding— quite effective in despatching these smaller animals expeditiously and painlessly, and with no detrimental effect to the meat or market value of heads, brains, or tongues. In reference to slaughtering pigs, it would be a great advantage'and more humane if the pigs were stunned by a mallet immediately they are hauled on to the rail; it would stop their horrible squeaking, the swaying of their : bodies, and the paddling action of the fore feet, all of which are disconcerting to the sticking operator.

The Jewish Method of Slaughtering Cattle.' —The beast being brought into the slaughterhouse, a rope with a slip-noose is placed round its neck, and is fastened to a ring fixed to a post close to the flooring, when it is made taut, the head being thus brought close to the ring a second noose of chain is passed round the hock or hind shank, and is drawn sharply to cause the creature to fall or to be cast down easily by the attendants on its side. The leg-fastening having been firmly secured, the head is twisted back to extreme tightness. The Jewish skilled operator then appears, and, with a knife the blade of which is about. 15 in. to 16 in. in length and sharp as a finely set razor, cuts the neck through, to the spinal column by drawing the knife swiftly and smartly across. The time from cutting the throat to the last throes of the dying beast, as a rule, is four minutes. It is claimed by Dr. Dembo, from a series of tests made by. him, that in the case of

animals killed by direct bleeding (the Jewish method) one hour and ten minutes elapsed between killing and onset of rigor mortis, and in the pole-axe method two hours and thirty-five minutes. Hence the progress of putrefaction is much less rapid in Kosher meat than in meat slaughtered by the pole-axe. The law of England makes special allowance for the Jewish mode of slaughter. The method is essentially a humane one, as in the sheep insensibility at once supervenes; but the fact of other subjects being much larger, and the cutting of the throat crosswise, causes the blood to gush and spout in all directions, rendering this detail horribly repulsive. Further, it has been noticed that the butchers have occasion to sever these cervical blood-vessels again, consequent on their swelling and becoming partially closed, with the object of hastening the flow of blood. I fail to see why the Jews do not adopt stunning with the hammer preparatory to bleeding, thus dispensing with the process of roping and casting of the beast, and the unnecessary excitement, terror, and struggling of the animal on being under restraint for killing. Again, the Mosaic law is very strict regarding the killing of animals for food, and its ordinances are such as to secure to the fullest extent the removal of the blood from the carcase. This object would be far better accomplished by stunning with the hammer, as will be discussed later. (4.) Shooting followed by Bleeding. The first improvement on the ordinary pole-axe was a mechanical killer invented in Germany and known as the slaughter-mask. The apparatus consists of a leather mask with a metal-plate attachment containing a hole into which a hollow-ended bolt is placed. The. mask is adjusted over the forehead of the beast, and then the bolt is tapped with a mallet, driving it through the cranium into the brain. The animal is then pithed with a knife and bled. Since this invention many instruments — and bullet —have been designed on similar lines, such as the Kleinschmidt spring-bolt apparatus, Cash’s and Behr’s pistols, the Siegmund shooting-mask, Stachl’s shooting-apparatus, the Speary killer, Stoff’s Swedish and Greener’s Safti killer, and latterly the K.S.P.C.A humane killer and the R.S.P.C.A. slaughtering-pistol. From personal experience, and from information on the subject gathered from reports on the scientific tests and demonstrations made, I have learned sufficient to prove that this method of shooting has no advantage over the ordinary modes of slaughter in daily use at slaughtering-establishments, but, on the. contrary, has shown the following disadvantages in its employment : There is a certain amount of danger in the use of these bullet-firing instruments. The shooting does not appear to be as humane as the ordinary methods in daily use, as animals are not always rendered unconscious, and there is no reduction in the duration of the reflex action. Animals do not bleed so readily and completely, therefore the keeping-qualities of meat are affected. In the case of pigs and sheep, the heads and brains have their market value reduced.

(5.) Stunning followed by Bleeding. This is the method adopted for cattle in the slaughtering-establish-ments in America. The implement used for the purpose of stunning is a large sledge-like hammer, which should not be less than 6 lb. or

7 lb. in weight. The body of the hammer-head should be of even circumference, short and straight, with both ends slightly convex. The animals are driven one at a time into a specially constructed narrow pen, having a platform on top, on which the operator stands. On entering the pen the animal's attention is attracted to the small opening in -the front partition, and while peering through this the blow is dealt, the slaughterman dropping the beast with one blow of the hammer high up on the forehead. One of the side partitions then slides up, and the stunned animal is automatically thrown out to the dressing-floor. The butcher immediately places a leg-chain around one of the hind fetlocks, the chain is hooked on the hoist-chain, and the animal is hoisted by means of the driving-shaft, which z in turn is worked by a dynamo in the slaughterhouse. The stunned animal is thus placed on an overhead bar, and is pushed along the track-bar to the grating over the bleeding-pit. With the animal thus 'suspended it will be apparent that the butcher can stick more expeditiously and with greater accuracy than with the beast lying on the floor; and, further, there is no soiling of the hide with blood. Bleeding is carried out by opening. the large anterior thoracic vessels, and the animal being suspended by the hind leg ensures rapid and complete drainage of the carcase of its blood contents. The effect of a stroke or blow from such a hammer as described is concussion of the brain—namely, a shock to the brain from injury, but without visible effect on its substance, thus differing from contusion as produced by the pole-axe or humane killers, where the brain-substance is more or less lacerated and accompanied with varied degrees of consciousness. Although the brain is the seat of emotion, reason; and sensation, it is of itself non-sensitive, as portion’ of it may be cut away with little or no effect. An animal deprived of the cerebrum or forebrain retains the special senses of sight, sound, taste, &c., but the, intellectual faculties are lost. In concussion there is a period of collapse ; the animal lies stunned and motionless, with' breathing slow and heavy —a desirable condition. The felled beast is now in a complete state of anathesia, or, pathologically speaking, analgesia the incapacity of feeling pain in a part, although the tactile sense may be more or less preserved. Under these circumstances the operation of sticking’ must be absolutely painless. The quivering or twinge movement noticed on the butcher cutting off an elliptical section of the skin of the neck preparatory to the act of sticking the animal is only a tactile reflexa reflex movement due to stimulation or irritation of nerves of touch. Therefore this sudden "momentary twinge following on the butcher’s incision of the skin does not denote pain as many are led to believe.

So, under this system of hammer and knife we obtain all that can be desired in slaughtering stock for food. Pain is avoided ; bleeding is thorough, with no detrimental effect to the meat ; and the operator requires little or no training. As far back as 1897 I recognized the need of more humanity in the slaughtering of animals for food, when Queensland was the first colony in Australasia to pass an Act of Parliament for the veterinary inspection of meat intended for export, and I had the honour of being appointed to administer that Act. Spearing or pithing was in general practice in those days, and I witnessed some

revolting and brutal exhibitions from the misuse of the spear or pither on stock that happened to be extra wild, or with those unfortunates comprising the tail-end of a big day's killing, when the operator was exhausted from work and heat. It was through seeing such sights that I advocated the American method, and was instrumental in getting it first adopted in the largest slaughtering-establishment, the Queensland Meat-export Company’s Works at Brisbane, where they put through three hundred to four hundred cattle daily. The method was highly commended, and proved satisfactory in every way. Then, coming to New Zealand and taking service under the Government, I was posted in 1905 to the Wellington Meat-export Company’s works for duty, and, as a new slaughterhouse was under construction, I recommended the then manager, the late Mr. Dilnot Sladden, to adopt the hammer-and-knife system of slaughter. This was done, and proved itself far preferable in every way to the old mode of spearing and pithing. CONCLUSION. ■ Finally, after the experience of life’s practical knowledge relating to this subject, gained not only in Australia and New Zealand, .but in England, Scotland, and France during the period of five years from 1915 to 1920, I state my opinion that there is no method so far devised which is more efficient in causing swift, sudden, painless death than the employment of the hammer and knife. It should one day become the universal method of slaughtering stock for food.