TAILIEUCHUNG - The Case for Controlled-Atmosphere Killing of Poultry in Transport Containers Prior to Shackling as a Humane Alternative to Electrical Stunning

Avian Influenza viruses are extremely common in nature. Although many wild birds may harbour influenza viruses, they are found most commonly in wetland birds and birds from aquatic environments, such as ducks, geese, swans, gulls and waders (Olsen et al. 2006). These birds carry the low pathogenicity strains of avian influenza (LPAIs); these can occasionally cross over to domestic poultry such as chickens and turkeys and cause mild disease, but they do not seem to pose a significant risk to humans who become infected. All influenza viruses have a propensity to change and generate novel agents (Webster 2004) | The Case for Controlled-Atmosphere Killing of Poultry in Transport Containers Prior to Shackling as a Humane Alternative to Electrical Stunning The practice of electrically stunning poultry which is standard in North American slaughterhouses Boyd 1994 results in both welfare and carcass-quality problems. With regard to welfare the many variables and frequent process failures associated with electrical stunning methods make it difficult to ensure adequate stunning and result in pain and suffering for birds who experience pre-stun shocks have their necks cut open and are dipped in scalding-hot water often while still fully conscious. Furthermore the uncrating shackling and conveying of live birds that always precedes electrical stunning has been shown to cause severe stress and injury which lead to a decrease in meat quality. On the other hand the controlled-atmosphere killing of poultry using a mixture of inert gases in air with no more than 2 percent residual oxygen by volume preferably 80 percent nitrogen and 20 percent argon helps to significantly alleviate many of these animal-welfare and carcass-quality issues and actually leads to increased revenue. Thus this method should be adopted by producers immediately. I. The Electrical Stunning Model Dumping Serious animal-welfare problems associated with the electrical stunning of poultry are painfully evident before stunning even takes place. In order to facilitate the process birds are dumped from transport vehicles onto a conveyor before being subjected to a stressful procedure called shackling. Birds awaiting shackling are sometimes overloaded onto the conveyor and end up suffocating to death as other birds are dumped on top of them. Extreme crowding and rough handling during unloading and dumping lead to a relatively high number of birds who are dead on arrival. Shackling During shackling birds are hung upside-down by their legs on a line of shackles moving so fast approximately 182 birds per minute at some .

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