Animal welfare infringements at slaughter in Sweden – a nationwide survey

Abstract

Introduction: Poor animal handling at slaughter not only affects animal welfare; it also influences meat quality and industry credibility. This paper presents the findings from a nationwide project initiated by the Swedish County Administrative Boards in 2022, which evaluated slaughterhouses' compliance with animal welfare legislation. The main goals were to assess adherence to both EU and national regulations, identify common issues, improve inspection uniformity, and map the stunning methods used. Methods: Animal welfare inspections at slaughter were carried out by the Competent Authorities. A standardised checklist covering 67 control points (32 administrative, 35 operational) was used. A total of 86 out of 129 registered slaughterhouses were inspected (21 large, 21 medium, and 44 small). During 2022, 102 inspections were conducted: 90 planned on-site and 12 follow-ups. Results: Although the majority of the premises complied with most control points, non-compliances were found in 84 out of 90 inspections. Many were related to administrative issues: 88% had incomplete Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and 14% lacked at least one proper Certificate of Competence (CoC). Of the operational non-compliances, 8% were associated with handling issues, 27% to stunning equipment and procedures, and 13% to bleeding. Stunning-related non-compliance was found most often at electrical stunning, particularly among pigs (67%) and poultry (up to 43%). Small slaughterhouses had more administrative non-compliances, but better results on handling and bleeding compared to medium and large ones. Stunning-related compliance was the lowest at small and large slaughterhouses, and better at medium-sized ones. Discussion: Certain non-compliances may have directly influenced animal welfare in a negative manner and the results from this study could help national and international efforts to improve training, inspection focus, and potentially revise legislation for greater clarity and enforceability. The size of this study and the similarities between the methods used in Sweden and in other countries renders the findings relevant beyond Sweden, on a worldwide scale where similar practices and regulations apply.