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A Case of Multiple Stun Attempts in a Bovine Due to Chronic Disease Process Causing Cranial Abnormalities

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Cattle that are to be processed for human consumption are routinely and legally rendered unconscious, to ensure that they cannot feel any pain, before the process of bleeding to cause brain death. The main method used in abattoirs is pneumatic or cartridge-powered captive bolt device...

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Autores principales: Grist, Andrew, Wotton, Stephen B.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7826818/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33429862
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11010116
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author Grist, Andrew
Wotton, Stephen B.
author_facet Grist, Andrew
Wotton, Stephen B.
author_sort Grist, Andrew
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: Cattle that are to be processed for human consumption are routinely and legally rendered unconscious, to ensure that they cannot feel any pain, before the process of bleeding to cause brain death. The main method used in abattoirs is pneumatic or cartridge-powered captive bolt devices, which deliver a high velocity impact to the skull creating a severe concussion (stun). The penetrating captive bolts then continue travelling into the brain to prevent recovery from the stunned state by damaging the structures in the brain that are required for normal brain function. If this method does not work there is an obvious potential for the welfare of the animal to be compromised, so investigations are undertaken to establish the cause of any failures to reduce the risk of reoccurrence. This paper presents the results of such an investigation, where the cause of the failure of the device to stun was found to be due to the anatomy of the individual animal’s head. This unfortunate occurrence is rare but must be considered in any investigation of multiple stun attempts. ABSTRACT: The preslaughter stunning of bovine animals is a legal requirement in the European Union, unless the animal is being slaughtered according to religious rite. The legislation also requires the investigation and review of stunning methods in cases of failure to stun. This paper presents the results of one investigation into the possible reasons for multiple stun attempts on an animal that received five shot applications. The head was hard frozen to prevent the deformation of brain structures during splitting along the sagittal plane, and then underwent macroscopic examination to assess the likely causes of the repeated stun attempts. In this case, a pre-existing chronic disease process produced anatomical variations of the cranial cavity, increasing the thickness of the sinuses of the frontal bone to a depth of 9 cm and filling the sinuses with a fibrinous pus deposit. It was therefore concluded that the anatomical variation produced by the chronic disease process, in addition to the energy absorption provided by the thicker hide and fibrinous pus, led to the failure of the stunning equipment to achieve the desired stunned state in the animal. As the animal displayed cranial variation before slaughter, a review of the stunning systems should include a requirement that animals displaying any abnormalities should be stunned with the highest-powered cartridge available or a free bullet.
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spelling pubmed-78268182021-01-25 A Case of Multiple Stun Attempts in a Bovine Due to Chronic Disease Process Causing Cranial Abnormalities Grist, Andrew Wotton, Stephen B. Animals (Basel) Case Report SIMPLE SUMMARY: Cattle that are to be processed for human consumption are routinely and legally rendered unconscious, to ensure that they cannot feel any pain, before the process of bleeding to cause brain death. The main method used in abattoirs is pneumatic or cartridge-powered captive bolt devices, which deliver a high velocity impact to the skull creating a severe concussion (stun). The penetrating captive bolts then continue travelling into the brain to prevent recovery from the stunned state by damaging the structures in the brain that are required for normal brain function. If this method does not work there is an obvious potential for the welfare of the animal to be compromised, so investigations are undertaken to establish the cause of any failures to reduce the risk of reoccurrence. This paper presents the results of such an investigation, where the cause of the failure of the device to stun was found to be due to the anatomy of the individual animal’s head. This unfortunate occurrence is rare but must be considered in any investigation of multiple stun attempts. ABSTRACT: The preslaughter stunning of bovine animals is a legal requirement in the European Union, unless the animal is being slaughtered according to religious rite. The legislation also requires the investigation and review of stunning methods in cases of failure to stun. This paper presents the results of one investigation into the possible reasons for multiple stun attempts on an animal that received five shot applications. The head was hard frozen to prevent the deformation of brain structures during splitting along the sagittal plane, and then underwent macroscopic examination to assess the likely causes of the repeated stun attempts. In this case, a pre-existing chronic disease process produced anatomical variations of the cranial cavity, increasing the thickness of the sinuses of the frontal bone to a depth of 9 cm and filling the sinuses with a fibrinous pus deposit. It was therefore concluded that the anatomical variation produced by the chronic disease process, in addition to the energy absorption provided by the thicker hide and fibrinous pus, led to the failure of the stunning equipment to achieve the desired stunned state in the animal. As the animal displayed cranial variation before slaughter, a review of the stunning systems should include a requirement that animals displaying any abnormalities should be stunned with the highest-powered cartridge available or a free bullet. MDPI 2021-01-08 /pmc/articles/PMC7826818/ /pubmed/33429862 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11010116 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Case Report
Grist, Andrew
Wotton, Stephen B.
A Case of Multiple Stun Attempts in a Bovine Due to Chronic Disease Process Causing Cranial Abnormalities
title A Case of Multiple Stun Attempts in a Bovine Due to Chronic Disease Process Causing Cranial Abnormalities
title_full A Case of Multiple Stun Attempts in a Bovine Due to Chronic Disease Process Causing Cranial Abnormalities
title_fullStr A Case of Multiple Stun Attempts in a Bovine Due to Chronic Disease Process Causing Cranial Abnormalities
title_full_unstemmed A Case of Multiple Stun Attempts in a Bovine Due to Chronic Disease Process Causing Cranial Abnormalities
title_short A Case of Multiple Stun Attempts in a Bovine Due to Chronic Disease Process Causing Cranial Abnormalities
title_sort case of multiple stun attempts in a bovine due to chronic disease process causing cranial abnormalities
topic Case Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7826818/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33429862
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11010116
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