Pig stunning and bleeding

This dossier aims to help Competent Authorities and other stakeholders with issues related to welfare of pigs at the time of stunning and killing. The dossier is updated periodically by the EURCAW-Pigs team. The text is meant to support Competent Authorities, and is not legally binding.

Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 regulates legal requirements for pigs at the time of killing. The regulation has been in force in the European Union since 2013, and determines the animal welfare conditions under which livestock should be handled and slaughtered.

During handling and moving towards the stunning area, pigs shall be handled according to their biology and to avoid pain and distress. This is because the latter results in pigs hesitating and halting, causing piling up, turning back, slipping or falling, and a suboptimal slaughter process. For each stage of the slaughter process, i.e. unloading from the vehicle, lairage, moving to the stunning area, stunning, possible hoisting, and debleeding, a specified SOP must be in place and applied. This is to be monitored by the Animal Welfare Officer.

In addition to the resource and management-based parameters required by law (Regulation 1099/2009) like electrical settings in case of electrical stunning, (records of) gas concentrations in case of CO2 stunning and the stun-to-stick interval, inspectors should use animal-based indicators to assess proper and effective handling, stunning and bleeding. EURCAW-Pigs developed three factsheets, each combining several indicators, one related to handling and moving pigs to the stunner, and two related to monitoring of stunning and bleeding efficiency (see ‘Show more’).

The PigStun project runs from January 2022 – May 2025 with the aim to improve animal welfare during the stunning process of pigs in slaughterhouses. In this European project researchers and slaughterhouses in Germany, Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands worked together to test alternative stunning methods for pigs to replace conventional CO2 stunning.

For good practices of implementation of EU legislation, seen in a full systems context, inspiring examples and demonstrators are identified. The examples given here address some good practices regarding calm and attentive handling of the animals from unloading to death. Demonstration of good practices are excellent ways and proven methods of dissemination of knowledge, exchanging ideas, harmonizing assessments, and changing attitudes. Brand Qualitätsfleisch is a medium-sized slaughterhouse in Lohne, Germany, where transparency and animal welfare at slaughter play a particularly important role.

The slaughterhouse Thönes-Natur-Verbund in Wachtendonk, Germany, specializes in the slaughter of pigs that meet the quality requirements of the Naturverbund (organic and Thönes-Natur). The company has developed a special u-shaped raceway to the electrical stunner. On the one hand, the short drive aisle reduces the period of stressful singling/separation of the pigs, which is always necessary before electric stunning. On the other hand, the curved design gives the animals the feeling of moving back to the starting direction, i.e. back to the other pigs.

It may be helpful for Competent Authorities (CAs) and inspectors to get an impression of the possibilities to monitor animal-related measures in slaughterhouses through the application of sensor technology and artificial intelligence (AI). Sensor technology cannot yet replace a human during the meat inspection, but it has potential to play an important role in the future.

The advantage of electrical stunning compared to gas stunning is that, if used correctly, the loss of consciousness and sensibility is immediate. However, a current drawback of electrical stunning is that, unlike CO2 stunning, pigs must be moved individually to the raceway to enter the stunner. Moving pigs to the stunner in small groups is less stressful to them and easier to handle by the staff of the abattoir.

Optimizing Automatic Electric Stunning for Improved Pig Welfare

Eyes on Animals

In collaboration with national training bodies and national reference centres on animal welfare, training guides are developed for the different welfare topics as standards for national training in EU Member States.