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Electromagnetic induction of insensibility in animals: a review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

A Small ,
D McLean ,
JS Owen  and
J Ralph
A Small*
Affiliation:
CSIRO Livestock Industries, FD McMaster Laboratory, Locked bag 1, Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia
D McLean
Affiliation:
Advanced Microwave Technologies, University of Wollongong, Building 42, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong, NSW 2500, Australia
JS Owen
Affiliation:
PO Box 5227, Manly, QLD 4179, Australia
J Ralph
Affiliation:
Wagstaff Cranbourne Pty Ltd, 15 Moorakyne Avenue, Malvern, VIC 3144, Australia
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: Alison.small@csiro.au
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Abstract

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The prevention of unnecessary suffering at slaughter is considered to be an imperative and, as such, the majority of animals slaughtered under industrial conditions are stunned prior to slaughter by mechanical, electrical or gas inhalation means. However, many Orthodox Jewish and Muslim communities do not accept pre-slaughter stunning. Those Jewish and Muslim communities that do accept pre-slaughter stunning require that any such stun is fully reversible in order to meet the requirements of their religious laws. Head-only electrical stunning is widely used in sheep, as it is a reversible method of stunning, but in cattle, the stun duration can be so short that the animal may regain consciousness during exsanguination. The concept of using electromagnetic radiation to induce insensibility has been proposed. Early attempts to induce insensibility and death in laboratory species were successful, but the technology to apply the technique to larger animals was not available at that time. More recently, however, technological advances have led to new work in the areas of transcranial magnetic stimulation and microwave irradiation, both of which are potential methods of inducing a recoverable stun in larger species.

Keywords

animal welfarecattlehumane slaughterlivestockrecoverable stunstunning
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , May 2013 , pp. 287 - 290
Copyright
© 2013 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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