Applying and adapting the welfare quality® protocol for assessing animal welfare in Korean cattle and pig slaughterhouses

This study aimed to review the applicability of the Welfare Quality^® protocol to evaluate animal welfare in cattle and pig slaughterhouses in Korea. A total of 6 cattle and 7 pig slaughterhouses were studied and evaluated by applying the Welfare Quality^® protocol. To ensure the reliability and reproducibility of the results, the three investigators were first trained in Welfare Quality^® protocol and took video and photographs during the initial field assessment. A reassessment was then conducted using video and photographs. Generalized linear models, such as Poisson regression or negative binomial regression, were used to analyze differences between slaughterhouses, and Spearman's rank correlation was used to assess the relationships between different factors in slaughterhouse scores. The average on-site inspection of the slaughterhouse took four and a half hours, and the video analysis took a total of eight and a half hours. A total of 590 cattle and 3,232 pigs were evaluated in the study. The analysis revealed significant differences between the turning back and dead animals in unloading, as well as in slipping and turning back in the moving to stunning area (<i>p</i> < 0.05) in 6 cattle slaughterhouses. In 7 pig slaughterhouses, differences were observed in panting in the lairage and falling, reluctance to move, and lameness in the moving to the stunning area among slaughterhouses (<i>p</i> < 0.05). By analyzing several variables within the slaughterhouse, we found that for cattle, the density of trucks and pens was strongly associated with temperature stress and lameness, and that rough handling increased as the cattle's fear response increased. For pigs, they also found that rough handling increased as the pigs' fear response increased. This study is significant because it is the first to evaluate the welfare of cattle and pigs in slaughterhouses in Korea and was successful in identifying several welfare issues in slaughterhouses.