A covered parking lot has been built at Westfort pig slaughterhouse so that trucks waiting in line to unload pigs can do so in the shade. This will help decrease the risk of heat stress for the animals stuck on board the waiting trucks. The covered parking lot can accommodate 3-4 trucks. Fans and water misters have been installed along the roof as well, to reduce the temperature. The fans switch on automatically at temperatures above 22 degrees. The water misters turn on automatically when the temperature reaches 25 degrees. The difference in temperature between the outside and under the roof of the covered parking lot is more than 5 degrees. This makes a big difference for the pigs waiting in the trucks. Eyes on Animals is pleased with this improvement.
Eyes on Animals however remains of the opinion that waiting times at the slaughterhouse should be avoided at all circumstances. Slaughterhouses must arrange the supply of pigs in such a way that pigs can be unloaded immediately (<20 minutes). Having larger lairages and more unloading ramps help reduce waiting times. Often slaughterhouses order many truckloads of pigs but do not have any buffer space in their lairage to unload them all at once.
