Handling of Animals in Lairage before Slaughter
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Welfare".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2022) | Viewed by 3657
Special Issue Editor
Interests: stress physiology; pain assessment; electronic identification; transport; handling; stunning; euthanasia; welfare
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
When slaughter animals are transported to the slaughterhouse, a decision is made whether to unload them. When they are not unloaded, the conditions need to be adapted in the lorry for their welfare. Slaughter animals include horses, ruminants, ostriches, poultry and fish species. Factors that affect welfare are related to handling by the operators while moving, design of the passageways and boxes or pens, ventilation, showering (misting), temperature and humidity, feeding and drinking facilities. Animals are spared any avoidable excitement, pain or suffering during movement and lairaging. The management set up welfare standards and monitor them.
Ethical aspects and humane treatment of slaughter animals are important components of the quality and safety of meat. Consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about the welfare of animals during slaughter, which affects their attitude towards the use of farm animals. Considerations should be given to emotional and physical stress of operatives in the food chain. Most identified hazards are common for all the species to be slaughtered. Serious hazards during lairage include inadequate ventilation, insufficient space allowance, lack of appropriate food and water, incorrect handling during movements, poor fitness, introduction of pathogens and the inappropriate application of resting periods. The concerns of consumers have implications for the future consumption of meat. Original and review papers are welcome to support the dialogue and debate on issues related to welfare, legislation and economic aspects.
Dr. Elbert Lambooij
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- slaughter animals
- stress
- energy metabolism
- pain
- movement
- handling, welfare and meat quality.
