A Survey on Pre-slaughter Stress Conditions and Behavioral Responses in Camels from Moroccan Rural and Urban Slaughterhouses During Summer Season

Animals destined for slaughter are subjected to numerous stress factors that can have negative effects on their physiological functions and meat quality. In this work, a survey was conducted in an urban slaughterhouse of Casablanca (SI) and two rural slaughterhouses of Tit-Mellil (SII) and Mers EL Kheir-Temara (SIII) in Morocco, to assess pre-slaughter stress conditions, from loading into vehicles to bleeding, in 104 dromedaries. The results showed that a large number of camels were males (5-9 years, 300-410 kg) from intensive breeding and sold at the Had Draâ market for 21-23 thousand moroccan dirham. Most means of transport were unventilated with a slippery dark floor ithout litter. Most camels were loaded without ramps, at a density of 1.75-2.5 m²/animal and had spent 7-10 h from the start of loading into the vehicle, adding the time of transport then unloading, and until the start of guidance to the waiting area in slaughterhouses. During the first 6 hours of stabling, camels from SII and SIII showed more standing, defecation and urination behaviors (p < 0.05), but less recumbency, feeding and rumination behaviors (p < 0.05) than camels from SI. Transport distance, loading density and total duration of animal handling as factors of stress before slaughter, were significantly correlated with most behavioral responses recorded during waiting. The results obtained highlight a multifactorial stress situation before and after arrival in Moroccan slaughterhouses that affects the animal welfare of dromedaries, and that this situation is increasingly stressful in rural slaughterhouses.