Emergency slaughter of food animals.

Abstract

THE term emergency slaughter should apply only where immediate slaughter of a -~ sick or injured animal is carried out in order to salvage the carcase. During the war years and post-war period the definition broadened and now includes to a large extent animals which are suffering from some chronic illness and which are consigned alive by farmers to the abattoir as &dquo; casualties.&dquo; Accordingly this paper will deal largely with the handling, slaughter and inspection of this large group. Table I is compiled from figures published by the Ministry of Food (Statistics and Intelligence Division, Meat)’ and it shows the number of each class of food animal which has been slaughtered in Great Britain as casualties during the period 1948-52. It is to be noted that a proportion of them do pass through the Grading Centre. I have expressed the number of casualty cattle, sheep and pigs as a percentage of their respective total kill.