Today, Eyes on Animals visited a large pig and cattle slaughterhouse of VION in Crailsheim, Germany. Despite arriving without an appointment, the manager immediately made time for us. This allowed us to dive into key topics, including public concerns about CO₂ stunning for pigs and our work on a less stressful alternative: an optimized automatic electrical stunning system. This method is designed to render pigs unconscious instantly and painlessly, while stress during their movement to the stunner is significantly reduced thanks to an animal-centered design and approach. While the slaughterhouse currently uses CO₂ stunning, they expressed strong interest in the possibilities of electrical stunning.
With planned renovations for the cattle facilities on the horizon, our visit came at the perfect time. The slaughterhouse showed genuine openness to our ideas, and we look forward to a productive follow-up!
