Effects of loading behaviour and road transport stress on traumatic injuries in cattle transported by road during the hot-dry season

111

Transport of farm animals gives rise to concern about their welfare. Specific attention has been given to the duration of animal transport, and maximum journey durations are used in legislation that seek to minimise any negative impact of transport on animal welfare. This paper reviews the relatively few scientific investigations into effects of transport duration on animal welfare in cattle, sheep, horses, pigs and poultry. From the available literature, we attempt to distinguish between aspects, which will impair welfare on journeys of any duration, such as those associated with loading, and those aspects that may be exacerbated by journey time. We identify four aspects of animal transport, which have increasing impact on welfare as transport duration increases. These relate to (i) the physiological and clinical state of the animal before transport; and -during transport -to (ii) feeding and watering; (iii) rest and (iv) thermal environment. It is thus not journey duration per se but these associated negative aspects that are the cause of compromised welfare. We suggest that with a few exceptions, transport of long duration is possible in terms of animal welfare provided that these four issues can be dealt with for the species and the age group of the animals that are transported.

Section: Calvesmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…However, movement of animals off and onto the vehicle can be very stressful (e.g. Broom et al, 1996) and increase the risk of injury (Minka and Ayo, 2007). In addition, these journey breaks will occur in an environment novel to the animal, and may involve mixing with unknown conspecifics.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Road transport of farm animals: effects of journey duration on animal welfare

Nielsen

Dybkjær

Herskin

2011

111

“…It has recently been suggested that some differences in the occurrence of bruises can be attributed to breed (Minka and Ayo, 2007). In studies carried out in West Africa, the behavioural activities of cattle during loading and unloading were assessed in three different Bos indicus breeds: White Fulani (long horns), Sokoto Gudale (short horns) and Red Bororo (massive horns).…”

Section: Factors Affecting the Occurrence Of Bruisesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Transport Distance, time and transport conditions. Road transportation can be associated with several types of injuries (Minka and Ayo, 2007). Many authors have emphasized the relation between distance travelled and occurrence of bruising in bovines (Yeh et al, 1978;McNally and Warriss, 1996;Hoffman et al, 1998), suggesting that the level of bruising might increase with the distance travelled by the animals and consequently the amount (kg) of bruised tissue trimmed per carcass (Wythes et al, 1981).…”

Section: Factors Affecting the Occurrence Of Bruisesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Origin and assessment of bruises in beef cattle at slaughter

Strappini

Metz

Gallo

et al. 2009

Studies of bruises, as detected on carcasses at the slaughterhouse, may provide useful information about the traumatic situations the animals endure during the pre-slaughter period. In this paper, we review scientific data on the prevalence, risk factors and estimation of the age of bruises in beef cattle. Risk factors such as animal characteristics, transport conditions, stocking density, livestock auction and handling of the animals are discussed. Investigation of the age of bruises could provide information on when in the meat chain bruises occur and, could help to pinpoint where preventive measures should be taken, from the stage of collecting the animals on the farm until slaughter. We review the methods available to assess the age of the bruises; data on human forensic research are also included. The feasibility to identify traumatic episodes during the pre-slaughter period, in order to improve animal welfare is discussed.

“…Jarvis and Cockram (1994) introduced the term 'potential bruising event' to describe a traumatic action that could cause a bruise to the animal. For cattle, several potentially bruising events have been indicated, such as forceful handling (Grandin, 2000), inadequate design of the slaughter facilities (Weeks et al, 2002), mounting and butting between animals (Kenny and Tarrant, 1987;Warriss, 1990), especially during loading (Minka and Ayo, 2007), and rough driving -Present address: Instituto de Ciencia Animal, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Austral de Chile,Casilla 567,Isla Teja,Valdivia, anastrappini@uach.cl during transport (Broom, 2003). However, the contribution of each of these potential bruising events to actual bruising of the carcass is not well documented.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bruises in culled cows: when, where and how are they inflicted?

Strappini

Metz

Gallo

et al. 2013

In Chile, cow carcasses present the highest bruise prevalence compared with other cattle categories; however, the causes of the bruises are frequently unknown. In this study, 52 cull cows were transported to the slaughterhouse in three batches under identical transport conditions. A combination of direct observation and video analyses was used to determine moment, pre-slaughter stage and cause of potential bruising events during the period from loading on the farm until stunning at the slaughterhouse. After slaughter, number of bruises, location on the carcass and characteristics of the bruises were assessed. Seventy-eight bruises were observed on 37 carcasses. Fifty-two bruises were linked back to their causal event. Results showed that 46% of these bruises were a result of interactions between animal and facility, and most of them were inflicted in the stunning box, 27% of the bruises originated from animal-animal interactions and were mostly inflicted during lairage, another 27% was a result of human-animal interactions and were mostly inflicted during loading and unloading of animals. The percentages of potential bruising events resulting in a bruise were 43%, 9% and less than 1% for animal-facility, human-animal and animal-animal interactions, respectively. Most bruises on the back site were inflicted when the animal was in the stunning box (91.2%), whereas bruises on the pin site were mostly (75%) inflicted during loading at the farm. One may conclude that in relative short journeys (<4 h) directly from farm to the slaughterhouse and long lairage times (.12 h), most bruises are the result of circumstances at the slaughterhouse. A substantial amount of these bruises could be avoided by proper animal handling and adequate stunning facilities.