Evolution of animal welfare at packing plants

Abstract Text:

Animal welfare and humane handling have become integral components of slaughter plant operations over the past several decades. In the early nineties, Dr. Temple Grandin, a world-renowned animal scientist who revolutionized animal handling within the livestock industry, worked with the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) to publish the Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines for the Meat Packing Industry which since its inception has served as the ‘gold standard’ for animal handling at packing plants.  Many commercial slaughter facilities address the proper treatment of animals through standard operating procedures, verification and monitoring programs, founded on the NAMI guidelines, in addition to applicable federal regulations. In the mid-90s, Dr. Grandin was commissioned by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop an objective system to evaluate the critical control points of animal handling at packing facilities. A HAACP-type (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) approach to evaluating animal handling was developed and adopted by NAMI and ultimately the meat industry as the voluntary standards for proper humane handling at slaughter facilities. By the end of the nineties, major corporations such as McDonald’s began requiring animal handling audits at beef and pork supplier slaughter plants. With their purchasing power, these major food companies were able to drive improvement in animal handling performance at the packing facilities that supplied them. Within the past several years, many federally-inspected plants have implemented a “systematic approach” to humane handling which is a voluntary HAACP-based program described by the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) as a program that assesses critical control points of animal handling, develops appropriate programs and facilities to minimize stress and discomfort to animals and monitors performance continually. The meat industry has professionalized animal handling by supporting additional training and certifications specific to working with and processing animals, building a strong culture of animal care with the animal handlers at their facilities.  As the number of plants reaching ‘excellent’ levels on animal handling audits have continued to increase, the meat industry looks for novel ways to continually make progress (e.g. implementing the use of remote video auditing to monitor and train employees). There has been more focus in recent years on the condition of animals arriving at facilities and the impacts that has on how they must subsequently be handled.  Animal handling continues to be a priority for all segments of the value chain.

Keywords:

animal handling, auditing, slaughter