Evaluation of stunning methods during cattle slaughter for animal welfare

Objective. Evaluate the efficiency of two stunning methods used in a municipal slaughterhouse, on the welfare of cattle prior to slaughter. Materials and methods. This research was carried out in August 2021, where the two stunning methods were evaluated, both the captive bolt and the puntilla were used in the slaughterhouse, and the sacrifice of 280 animals was evaluated, for this the following variables were measured: jumping, prods, vocalization, presence of rhythmic breathing, spontaneous blinking, eyeball rotation and nystagmus. Results. In both methods, the jumping in the stunning box was 20.00 % and 37.14 % respectively (p<0.001), the vocalization (11.43% and 10.00%) and electric prod (97.14% and 98.57%) were similar (p>0.05) for captive bolt and puntilla. Support was necessary in 43.57 % for puntilla and 64.29 % with the use of captive bolt (p<0.05). Spontaneous blinking was 82.14%; eyeball rotation was 36.43 % for puntilla showing in both cases (p<0.05) with respect to captive bolt. On the other hand, Nystagmus 30.71 % with captive bolt (p<0.05) with respect to puntilla 19.29 %. Conclusions. The analysis of stunning methods in livestock slaughter reveals significant differences in their impact on animal welfare. In terms of effectiveness, the captive bolt method proved to be more efficient than the puntilla method. Additionally, the handling involved in carrying out the stunning is an additional source of stress.