Should we slaughter horses at abattoirs?

Owers, Roly

doi:10.1136/vr.l6414

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This may be attributable to owners' lack of knowledge or ability to correctly identify and understand the consequences of clinical symptoms as discussed above, and may also be related to issues with income or ability to pay for horses to be euthanized. Horse slaughter at abattoirs is permitted in the UK, which may alleviate some of the financial impact of euthanasia, and has been suggested to improve horse welfare [31]. However, other issues such as emotional attachment, peer pressure and negative attitudes to death can also play a role [18].…”

Section: Delayed Euthanasia Decisionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determining a Welfare Prioritization for Horses Using a Delphi Method

Rioja-Lang

Connor

Bacon

et al. 2020

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Simple Summary: Horses are used for a wide range of different purposes and may be vulnerable to a large number of different welfare issues, some of which are unique to equines, such as responses to being ridden or trained. Compared to farmed livestock, their welfare has received less attention, but concern for their welfare is increasing. Welfare issues can arise from the environments in which animals are kept, how they are treated by their human caregivers and their health. To determine which of the issues are most important and may need the greatest attention in terms of research effort or owner education, we used a process of eliciting expert opinion. Through a series of surveys and ranking of issues, we determined that, in the opinion of equine experts, the most important issues for horses were poor disease prevention, issues arising when old or sick horses are not promptly euthanized, lack of owner knowledge of welfare needs of horses, fear and stress involved in horse use, inability of owners to recognize pain behaviour, obesity and inadequate feeding practices. Prioritizing different welfare issues can help to focus attention on the most pressing or severe issues causing the greatest amount of suffering.Abstract: Equine welfare issues are receiving increasing attention in the UK, but welfare problems can arise from a wide range of causes. In order to identify the most important welfare concerns for horses, we used a Delphi method with 19 equine welfare experts. An initial list of 84 equine welfare issues was generated using an online discussion board and NVivo thematic analysis. Subsequently, experts ranked these welfare issues for perceived prevalence, severity and duration of suffering associated with each issue on a 6-point Likert scale. All issues with a mean score of 3 or above (n = 37) were included in subsequent rounds. Finally, a subset of experts attended a two-day workshop to determine the final priority list of welfare issues. The welfare issues perceived to be most prevalent were lack of biosecurity, delayed euthanasia, lack of owner knowledge of equine welfare needs, fear and stress from use, and obesity. The issues considered to cause greatest suffering for individual horses were delayed euthanasia, lack of recognition by owners of pain behaviour, large worm burdens, obesity and being fed unsuitable diets for equine feeding behaviour. These outcomes can help to focus research and education interventions on the most pressing welfare issues for horses.

show abstract

Section: Delayed Euthanasia Decisionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determining a Welfare Prioritization for Horses Using a Delphi Method

Rioja-Lang

Connor

Bacon

et al. 2020

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Grandin [7], for instance, considers it possible for slaughter to be a form of euthanasia-i.e., a 'good death'. In fact, confidence in the ability of abattoirs to perform humane slaughter has even led to calls for horse owners to send their horses destined for euthanasia to abattoirs instead, for cheaper and more humane killing [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Humane Slaughter Possible?

Browning

Veit

2020

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

One of the biggest ethical issues in animal agriculture is that of the welfare of animals at the end of their lives, during the process of slaughter. Much work in animal welfare science is focussed on finding humane ways to transport and slaughter animals, to minimise the harm done during this process. In this paper, we take a philosophical look at what it means to perform slaughter humanely, beyond simply reducing pain and suffering during the slaughter process. In particular, we will examine the issue of the harms of deprivation inflicted in ending life prematurely, as well as shape of life concerns and the ethical implications of inflicting these harms at the end of life, without the potential for future offsetting through positive experiences. We will argue that though these considerations may mean that no slaughter is in a deep sense truly ‘humane’, this should not undermine the importance of further research and development to ensure that while the practice continues, animal welfare harms are minimised as far as possible.

show abstract