Document type: Press release from the Animal Welfare Institute
Author: Animal Welfare Institute
Preview: Today [May 16, 2023], a coalition of animal protection groups submitted a rulemaking petition to the US Department of Agriculture to require pig slaughter plants to install cameras inside gondola cages used in carbon dioxide stunning systems. The petitioners are the Animal Welfare Institute, Compassion in World Farming, the Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society Legislative Fund, Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, and World Animal Protection.
An estimated 90% of the 130 million pigs killed in the United States each year are slaughtered using CO2 gas. [...] more than 100 US veterinarians have joined in a letter to the American Veterinary Medical Association, expressing concerns about pigs' aversive reaction to the gas.
Moreover, renowned animal scientist Dr. Temple Grandin has long called for the use of video cameras to observe pigs while they are being stunned or killed with CO2 gas.
Currently, US government inspectors are unable to determine whether pork-producing slaughter plants using CO2 gas are complying with the federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA) because-unlike with pre-slaughter stunning by electric current or captive bolt-inspectors are unable to observe animals after they are lowered into the CO2 chamber. [...] In preparation for slaughter, pigs are typically driven into a gondola and exposed to increasing concentrations of CO2 as they descend to the bottom of a pit. The process can take several minutes, and multiple factors affect how long it takes for the animal to lose consciousness, including the specific concentration of CO2, the speed of the conveyor, and a pig's age, sex, and genetics.
The HMSA mandates that all animals be rendered insensible to pain by a method that is rapid and effective before being shackled, hoisted, or cut. CO2 -specific regulations under the law require that animals "be exposed to the carbon dioxide gas in a way that will accomplish the anesthesia quickly and calmly, with a minimum of excitement and discomfort to the animals." [...] Over the past two decades, the pork industry worldwide has transitioned from pre-slaughter stunning by electric current to stunning or killing with CO2 gas; electrocution is still used by many small pig slaughter establishments, along with captive bolt guns and firearms.
