Today the Eyes on Animals team hosted a visit to a large pig slaughterhouse with a brand new and improved automatic electric stunning design in place. Eyes on Animals worked on the new design with the slaughterhouse in question 3.5 years ago and for the past 2 years it is up and running.
We worked on this project to help create a better and viable alternative to the use of CO2 gas to stun pigs. Currently, the only options for large pig abattoirs are CO2 gas or electric stunning. The old design of moving pigs through high throughput automatic electric stunning systems had serious welfare concerns, as getting hundreds of pigs into one single file per hour required force. CO2 gas, however, is not a humane option because CO2 gas always causes pain and suffering. Inhaling high concentrations of CO2 gas causes breathlessness, burning sensation of the mucous membranes and panic. We always believed the full potential of electric stunning had not been extracted and together with Dr. Temple Grandin finally did so. We regularly host visits to this plant we redesigned in the hope that other pig slaughterhouses and companies selling large amounts of pork will be aware of this alternative and start discussions to move away from CO2 gas.
