Is transport distance correlated with animal welfare and carcass quality of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus)?

Abstract

BackgroundSlaughter reindeer are exposed to stress caused by gathering, handling, loading and unloading, and by conditions in vehicles during transport. These stress factors can lead to compromised welfare and trauma such as bruises or fractures, aspiration of rumen content, and abnormal odour in carcasses, and causing condemnations in meat inspection and lower meat quality. We investigated the statistical association of slaughter transport distance with these indices using meat inspection data from years 2004–2016, including inspection of 669,738 reindeer originating from Finnish reindeer herding areas.ResultsIncreased stress and decreased welfare of reindeer, as indicated by higher incidence of carcass condemnation due to bruises or fractures, aspiration of rumen content, or abnormal odour, were positively associated with systems involving shorter transport distances to abattoirs. Significant differences in incidence of condemnations were also detected between abattoirs and reindeer herding cooperatives.ConclusionsThis study indicates that in particular the short-distance transports of reindeer merit more attention. While the results suggest that factors associated with long distance transport, such as driver education, truck design, veterinary supervision, and specialist equipment, may be favourable to reducing pre-slaughter stress in reindeer when compared with short distance transport systems, which occur in a variety of vehicle types and may be done by untrained handlers. Further work is required to elucidate the causal factors to the current results.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13028-017-0286-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The annual, temporal and spatial pattern of Setaria tundra outbreaks in Finnish reindeer: a mechanistic transmission model approach

“…We collected the reindeer meat inspection data from the slaughterhouses for the period 2004–2015. Meat inspection and hygiene control are conducted at slaughterhouses by the regional state administrative agencies of Finnish Lapland [ 17 ]. The meat inspection procedure has previously been described in detail [ 5 , 17 ].…”

“…Of the slaughtered reindeer, 80% were born the same year and 20% are old, usually around 8–9 years-old [ 5 ]. Most of the reindeer (~ 70–80%) are slaughtered in approved abattoirs and the rest are slaughtered privately [ 5 , 17 ]. Meat inspection has occurred regularly since the 1980s [ 5 , 17 ], while data on liver condemnation due to S. tundra and other causes have only been recorded precisely since 2004.…”

Ethical Aspects of Sustainable Development in Polish Enterprises Transporting Animals for Slaughter

“…noise, smell, changes in temperature, humidity, vibrations and lack of food and water (Dousek, Večerek, Valcl, Chloupek, Pińtěková, 2002;Llonch, et al, 2018). The main factors that affect farm animal welfare during transport include the pre-, during-and post-road transport (Marahrens, et al 2011;Ńímová, Večerek, Passantino, Voslářová, 2016;Laaksonen, Jokelainen, Pusenius, Oksanen, 2017;Broom, 2005). Pre-journey factors are as follows (Padalino, et.al., 2018):  on farm handling,  rearing conditions,  assembly of animals,  classifying,  weighing,  assimilation into a new environment;  regrouping  mixing with unfamiliar animals,  fitness for transport,  handling at loading.…”

Gedomesticeerd? Begripsomschrijving en beoordelingskader, toegepast voor het rendier en de zeboe

“…De geïmporteerde rendieren worden overigens als semi-gedomesticeerde dieren aangemerkt. Het is bekend dat bij het transport van semi-gedomesticeerde rendieren naar het slachthuis de nodige voorzichtigheid in acht moet worden genomen om te voorkomen dat dieren gestrest raken met als resultaat verwondingen, botbreuken en een slechte vleeskwaliteit (Laaksonen et al 2017;Rehbinder et al 1982;Wiklund & Malmfors 2004).…”

“…Van gerichte selectie is geen sprake. De houderij is eerder extensiever geworden en met betrekking tot deze rendieren wordt er dan ook gesproken van een semi-gedomesticeerde vorm(Wiklund & Malmfors 2004;Laaksonen et al 2017).…”