2004 Restaurant Animal Welfare Audits of Stunning and Handling in Federally inspected U.S. and Canadian beef, veal, pork, lamb, and poultry slaughter plants

Temple Grandin, PhD
Department of Animal Science
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523

The plants were audited by McDonald's Corporation, Wendy's International, and 3 other companies. There were a total of 59 U.S. and Canadian beef plants and five U.S. veal plants. Welfare of sheep was audited in 3 U.S. lamb plants. In the pork industry, 40 U.S. plants were audited. Data was also collected in 47 chicken processing plants.

Beef and Pork

Beef and pork plants have been audited in the U.S. by McDonald's and Wendy's since 1999. The scores for stunning, vocalization, and electric prod use were similar to previous years (Tables 1, 7, 10). Canadian plants did not score as well as the U.S. plants. Many of these plants had their first audits in 2004. Two out of eight beef plants failed on insensibility (Table 4). All cattle were restunned prior to skinning or other dressing procedures. Canadian plants that had been in an audit system for three or more years all passed (Tables 10, 11, 14). Electric prod scores collected during the audits all passed. In several plants the auditor went back to watch. When the employees thought nobody was looking the prod was used on many animals. In one plant equipped with video cameras, prod scores on the video were much higher than prod scores taken by an auditor standing next to the chute. Prod scores change when nobody is looking but captive bolt stunning remains the same. Stunner maintenance is the single most important factor that affects the stunning score. Cattle vocalization scores were excellent (Table 7). The worst score was 5%. To maintain beef and pork plants at a high standard requires continuous vigilance. Beef and pork plants that had been audited for at least two years by a customer performed much better than plants that had not been previously audited.

Plants Outside the Audit System

Beef

There were major problems in 2004 in beef plants that were not being audited by a customer. One of the organic companies started their first audits. In one plant a cow with half her head eaten off by maggots had passed ante-mortem inspection. This plant was removed from the approved suppliers list. On the PETA website there is an atrocious video of cattle having their tracheas (windpipes) ripped out after Kosher slaughter. One steer was walking around with his trachea hanging out. This procedure is not part of normal Kosher slaughter. Prior to this undercover video, the plant had not been audited by a customer. They also had no internal welfare auditing.

Veal

There were some very bad problems in veal plants. Veal calf plants received their first audits in 2004. The biggest problem was shackling and hoisting of live veal calves for Kosher slaughter. Slipping on slick floors and excessive use of electric prods by truck drivers were other problem areas. Stunning in veal plants was excellent. Four veal plants that stunned calves all passed on stunning and insensibility (Tables 5 and 6). The vocalization score in the plant that shackled and hoisted live veal calves was 25% (Table 5). The veal plants that stunned calves had vocalization scores of 3% or less.

Poultry

2004 was the first year that poultry audits were compiled. Plants that had been audited by a customer for at least a year did better on stunning than plants that had their first audit in 2004. Tables 18 and 19 shows stunning and bleed machine scores for 47 U.S. poultry plants.

Data collected in 47 U.S. plants on broken and dislocated wings indicated that only 8% of the plants had more than 3% broken wings (Table 21). Wings were scored feathers on to avoid confusion with damage from the picker (defeathering machine). Unfortunately no data was collected on bird weight in each plant. Bird weight range was 4lbs (1.80 kg) to 8lb (3.6 kg). Only one plant had over 5% broken wings. Seventy two percent of the plants had 2% or less broken wings and 38% were at the 1% level. This data illustrates that the National Chicken Council guideline of allowing 5% broken wings is way too lax. I would recommend a 3% cut off for heavy birds and 1% for light birds.

Data on chickens dead on arrival was collected in 21 plants. Most plants were located in the southern U.S. Sixty six percent of the plants had DOA's at 0.30% or lower. Only 2 plants were over 0.50% and three plants kept DOA's under 0.2%. The average DOA score for all the plants was 0.30%. These DOA scores may be better than the industry average because most of the plants had been audited for more than one year. Some plants that performed poorly in 2003 were not included in the 2004 data.

The good news is that poultry plant manager who have worked on improving welfare can achieve good scores. There is a need for the poultry industry to make their own guidelines more strict.

Conclusions

Plants for all species that have both an internal welfare auditing system and audits from customers perform better than unaudited plants. The worst incidents in 2004 were filmed on under cover video. They were the Kosher beef plant and a chicken plant where chickens were thrown against the wall. Both of these plants had no internal audits. A system of both internal audits and third party independent audits from customers will maintain decent standards.

Table 1: Captive bolt stunning in 51 beef plants in the U.S.; Combined scores from two different audit systems.
Percentage of cattle stunned with one shot Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
Excellent
99 to 100%		 36 71%
Acceptable
95 to 99%		 15 29%
Not Acceptable
90 to 94%		 0 0%
Serious Problem
Under 90%		 0 0%

Table 2: Insensibility of cattle on the bleed rail. All cattle were re-stunned prior to skinning or other slaughter procedures.
Percentage of cattle rendered insensible Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
100% insensible
Pass		 48 94%
Less than 100% insensible
Serious Problem		 3 6%

Table 3: Penetrating captive bolt stunning in 8 Canadian beef plants.
Percentage of cattle stunned with one shot Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
Excellent
99 to 100%		 4 50%
Acceptable
95 to 99%		 4 50%
Not Acceptable
90 to 94%		 0 0%
Serious Problem
Under 90%		 0 0%

Table 4: Insensibility of cattle on the bleed rail in Canada. All cattle were re-stunned prior to skinning or other slaughter procedures.
Percentage of cattle rendered insensible Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
100% insensible
Pass		 6 75%
Less than 100% insensible
Serious Problem		 2 25%

Table 5: Captive bolt stunning in 4 U.S veal plants. The one Kosher plant is not included.
Percentage of calves stunned with one shot Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
Excellent
99 to 100%		 3 75%
Acceptable
95 to 99%		 1 25%
Not Acceptable
90 to 94%		 0 0%
Serious Problem
Under 90%		 0 0%

Table 6: Insensibility of cattle on the bleed rail in veal calves. All cattle were re-stunned prior to skinning or other slaughter procedures. The one Kosher plant is ommitted.
Percentage of cattle rendered insensible Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
100% insensible
Pass		 4 100%
Less than 100% insensible
Serious Problem		 0 0%

Table 7: Percent cattle vocalizing in 51 U.S. beef plants. Vocalization scores were averaged for plants with two audits.
Percentage vocalizing Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
Excellent
0 to 1%		 27 53%
Acceptable
2 to 3%		 21 41%
Borderline Acceptable
4 to 5%		 3 6%
Not Acceptable
6 to 10%		 0 0%
Serious Problem
Over 10%		 0 0%

Table 8: Percent cattle vocalizing in 8 Canadian beef plants.
Percentage vocalizing Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
Excellent
0 to 1%		 3 37.5%
Acceptable
2 to 3%		 3 37.5%
Borderline Acceptable
4 to 5%		 1 12.5%
Not Acceptable
6 to 10%		 1 12.5%
Serious Problem
Over 10%		 0 0%

Table 9: Percent of veal calves vocalizing in 5 U.S. veal plants.
Percentage vocalizing Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
Excellent
0 to 1%		 3 60%
Acceptable
2 to 3%		 1 20%
Borderline Acceptable
4 to 5%		 0 0%
Not Acceptable
6 to 10%		 0 0%
Serious Problem
Over 10%		 1 20%

The veal plant with the serious problem had a vocalization score of 25%. The high vocalization score was caused by shackling and hoisting fully sensible beal calves by one back leg. This plant failed the audit for both high vocalization and shackling and hoisting.

Data on vocalization was not available for a 6th veal plant that shackled and hoisted live calves. One third of the veal plants conducted live shackling and hoisting for Kosher veal.

Table 10: Electric prod use in 51 U.S. beef plants.
Percentage of cattle electric prodded Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
5% or less
Excellent%		 38 74.5%
6 to 25%
Acceptable		 13 24.5%
26 to 50%
Not Acceptable		 0 0%
Over 50%
Serious Problem		 0 0%
Object poked in a sensitive part of the animal
Serious Problem		 0 0%

Table 11: Electric prod use in 8 Canadian beef plants.
Percentage of cattle electric prodded Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
5% or less
Excellent%		 5 62.5%
6 to 25%
Acceptable		 1 12.5%
26 to 50%
Not Acceptable		 2 25%
Over 50%
Serious Problem		 0 0%
Object poked in a sensitive part of the animal
Serious Problem		 0 0%

Table 12: Electric prod use in the stunning area in 5 U.S. veal calf plants.
Percentage of calves electric prodded Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
5% or less
Excellent%		 5 100%
6 to 25%
Acceptable		 0 0%
26 to 50%
Not Acceptable		 0 0%
Over 50%
Serious Problem		 0 0%
Object poked in a sensitive part of the animal
Serious Problem		 0 0%

In two plant, electric prods were used on about half of the animals. Handling in the plant was good, but no effort had been made to train truck drivers.

Table 13: Slipping and Falling in Fed Beef, Cow, and Veal Plants.
Type of Plant Result
Fed Beef All plants passed
Cows 2 of 16 plants (12.5%) had serious problems
Veal Calves 2 of 5 plants (40%) had serious problems

In both veal plants the falls occurred during truck unloading.

Table 14: Electric stunner placement in 40 U.S. pork slaughter plants for passage of the electric current through the brain. CO2 plants are not included on this table.
Percentage of pigs with correct wand placement Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
Excellent
100%		 23 77%
Acceptable
99%		 4 13%
Not Acceptable
95 to 98%		 3 10%

Table 15: Insensibility on the bleed rail in 43 U.S. pork plants. CO2 plants are included on this table. All pigs were re-stunned prior to scaulding.
Percentage of pigs rendered insensible Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
100% insensible
Pass		 42 93%
Less than 100% insensible
Serious Problem		 3 7%

Table 16: Electric stunner placement in 3 U.S. lamb slaughter plants.
Percentage of lambs with correct wand placement Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
Excellent
100%		 2 66%
Acceptable
99%		 1 33%
Not Acceptable
95 to 98%		 0 0%

All sheep were 100% insensible on the bleed rail.

Table 17: Electric prod use in 43 pork slaughter plants.
Percentage of pigs electric prodded Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
Excellent
0%		 10 23%
Good
1 to 5%		 14 33%
Acceptable
6 to 25%		 18 42%
Serious Problem
Over 50%		 1 2%

The three plants with group CO2 stunning systems had 0% electric prod use.

Table 18: Combined stunning and bleed machine scores for 47 U.S. poultry plants. Many plants were getting their first audits.
Percentage of plants that had 99% or better stun and auto bleed Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
Passing plants 22 47%
Plants that passed after a 2nd audit 18 38%
Not Acceptable scores for stunning or bleeding 7 15%

Table 19: Stunning scores for 21 plants where the stunning score was not combined with the bleed machine scores.
Plant successful stuns rates Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
99 to 100% stunned 16 76%
Less than 99% stunned 5 24%

Table 20: Broken or dislocated wings in 47 U.S. poultry plants. Scored with the feathers on to avoid confusion with damage caused by the picking (defeathering) machine.
Percentage broken or dislocated wings Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
Excellent
0 to 1%		 18 38%
Acceptable for heavy birds
1 to 2%		 16 34%
Acceptable for heavy birds
2 to 3%		 9 19%
Not Acceptable
3 to 5%		 3 6%
Serious Problem
Over 5%		 1 2%

No data was collected on bird weight. Weight range for all plants was 4 lbs (1.8 kg) to 8 lbs (3.6 kg).

Table 21: Percentage of birds DOA (dead on arrival) in 21 U.S. poultry plants. The majority of these plants were located in the southern parts of the U.S. that have very hot weather. Plants with more than one audit have average scores.
Percentage of DOA's Number of Plants Percentage of Plants
0.10 to 0.20% 3 14%
0.21 to 0.30% 11 52%
0.31 to 0.40% 5 24%
0.41 to 0.50% 1 5%
0.51 to 0.60% 1 5%
0.61 to 0.70% 0 0%
0.71 to 0.80% 0 0%

The plants on this table have been in a regular audit system. They may be better than unaudited plants. These figures were taken from plant records. Single worst score was 0.70% and best score was 0.04%. The average of all 21 plants was 0.30%.

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