Identifying Barriers to Implementing Pain Management for Piglet Castration: A Focus Group of Swine Veterinarians

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Surgical castration is a painful husbandry procedure typically performed on piglets in the United States (US) within the first week of life. Castration is used to improve meat quality, and as a result, nearly all male pigs destined for slaughter in the US will be castrated. In recent years, consumers and retailers have questioned the ethicality of castration as a production practice, given that it results in pain experienced by the piglet. However, eliminating castration is not practical at this time in the US, and the adoption of pain management protocols remains the most viable solution to managing pain associated with castration. Given that veterinarians often have direct oversight regarding the development of animal care protocols, the objective of the present study is to identify factors influencing swine veterinarian decision-making in regard to pain management for piglet castration using focus group methodologies. Three main areas of focus were identified and included (1) the lack of approved products validated for efficacy, (2) economic limitations and challenges, and (3) deficient guidelines and training for veterinarians to develop protocols. These barriers must be addressed, moving forward, to support the use of pain management protocols for castrated piglets throughout the US swine industry. ABSTRACT: Surgical castration is a painful husbandry procedure performed on piglets in the United States (US) to improve meat quality. Veterinarians play a crucial role in developing pain management protocols. However, providing pain management for castration is not common practice in US swine production systems. Therefore, the objective of the present study is to identify factors influencing swine veterinarian decision-making in regard to pain management protocols for piglet castration using focus group methodologies. Swine veterinarians (n = 21) were recruited to participate in one of three focus groups. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by two independent coders who identified three areas of focus, including (1) the lack of approved products validated for efficacy, (2) economic limitations and challenges, and (3) deficient guidelines and training for veterinarians to develop protocols. Although participating veterinarians acknowledged the importance of pain management from an animal welfare standpoint, these barriers must be addressed to ensure that castration pain can be successfully mitigated on-farm.