Evaluation of animal welfare during the handiling in an slaughterhouse

Abstract

Studies on Animal Welfare have importance to veterinary and scientific community in view of the small amount of work in this area. Taking into account that Brazil is one of the largest exporters of beef, pork and chicken, and that importing countries are demanding these products, increasingly, the use of practices that respect the Animal Welfare, it is evident the need to know the reality of the slaughter establishments. Aiming to achieve a quality standard under the commercial point of view and humane slaughter. In this sense it is proposed to a survey in order to investigate the levels of Animal Welfare, through the evaluation of management practices and slaughter in a slaughter plant in Uberlandia - MG. Data were collected through a standardized questionnaire in seven site visits, evaluating indicators in the stages of pre-slaughter and slaughter. After collection, the data were processed and arranged in tables. For analysis, data were transformed into indicators and compared with the literature. This comparison showed the presence of indicators of Animal Welfare, among the subjects studied in the slaughter plant, in violation of the Animal Welfare levels accepted. We conclude that the presence in the slaughterhouse assessed for indicators of Animal Welfare outside the acceptable standards is associated with factors such as inadequate management due to lack of training and insufficient level of knowledge about animal behavior, by employees.