Today the Wacpaw/EonA team visited Cape Coast (Ghana) to conduct training for workers at the Meat Unit Abattoir as well as Meat Science students on the humane catching and handling of poultry during slaughter. We also installed pneumatic poultry stunning equipment (the Zephyr phenumatic poultry stun gun) to ensure that poultry are rendered unconscious first before slaughter. The Meat Unit Abattoir at the University of Cape Coast supplies a significant portion of the meat consumed in the city of Cape Coast.
Participants were first introduced to basic poultry behavior and different poultry handling techniques, with a focus on the upright catching method, which causes much less stress and pain for the birds than when they are grabbed by their legs and held upside down. We also demonstrated the process of loading the birds into the cones to stun them prior to cutting their throat, in order to render them unconscious and thus insensitive to pain.
We demonstrated the entire process to the participants, and then guided them as they practiced on their own catching birds upright and stunning them. Both workers and students felt empowered, gaining a deeper understanding of why these techniques are essential to decrease animal suffering.
Three female students expressed interest in volunteering for WACPAW to spread the message of humane poultry handling in their communities during their holidays! We will provide them with further training to ensure they are well-prepared to engage with local farmers and abattoirs.
The University authorities expressed their sincere gratitude to EonA for donating the stunner and cones and sponsoring the training. We look forward to returning in the future to assess the equipment’s operation and the abattoir’s progress.
