Physiological and economic benefits of abandoning invasive surgical procedures and enhancing animal welfare in swine production

Abstract

Food-animal welfare is a major ethical and social concern. Pork is the most consumed meat worldwide, with over a billion pigs slaughtered annually. Most of these pigs routinely undergo painful surgical procedures (surgical castration, tail docking, teeth clipping), which farmers often reluctant to avoid, claiming it would increase cost and reduce production efficiency. Herein, this study indicates that these procedures compromise pigs’ health and condition. Replacing surgical castration with immunocastration, avoiding tail docking and teeth clipping, and providing environmental enrichment, resulted in significant increase in weight gain, lowered risks for injuries and death, and reduced saliva and hair cortisol, both biomarkers for stress. Testosterone and DHEA analyses confirmed that immunocastration was an effective alternative to surgical castration. Economic models for the entire US swine market revealed that following across-the-board acceptance of this management, pork meat price is expected to drop, while the total annual social welfare (combined consumer and producer surplus) is expected to increase by $US 1.48 to 1.92 billion. In conclusion, sustainable swine farming management can be beneficial for both animals and farmers. Applying such welfare-friendly management is expected to reduce stress, enhance piglet/pig welfare and production, and improve the economics of swine operations in the global agro-food system.

Optimal Methods of Documenting Analgesic Efficacy in Neonatal Piglets Undergoing Castration

“…The wound is left to heal by secondary intention [ 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. As an alternative to this procedure, there is growing interest in raising entire males, and/or the use of immunocastration by an anti-GnRH vaccine, which has shown to be effective in reducing boar taint and increasing growth performance in male pigs [ 7 , 8 ]. Whilst this review focusses on methods of assessing pain mitigation for surgical castration, the reader is referred to comprehensive review articles regarding surgical and non-surgical options and pig welfare [ 3 , 6 , 9 ].…”

New technique of sex preselection for increasing female ratio in boar sperm model

“…Due to the current concern about animal welfare has emerged for customers, development of new method can replace castration practice is required (Morgan et al., 2019).…”

On the Road to End Pig Pain: Knowledge and Attitudes of Brazilian Citizens Regarding Castration

“…For example, rearing pigs in lower stocking density and with environmental enrichment may be a requirement to raise pigs with tails and testicles [ 19 , 20 , 84 ] and would have further positive impact on pigs’ welfare [ 85 ]. A recent study showed that replacing surgical castration with immunocastration, avoiding tail docking, teeth clipping, and providing environmental enrichment to pigs resulted in lower physiological stress and risks for injuries and death, and improved growth with positive economic returns—but not when these changes were made individually [ 86 ]. Thus, changing one specific practice while maintaining others may incur in costs for producers without real benefits for the animals, and fail to meaningfully contribute to the social acceptability of the production system.…”