An Examination of the Performance of Blank Cartridges Used in Captive Bolt Devices for the Pre-Slaughter Stunning and Euthanasia of Animals.

Blank cartridges provide the power source for the majority of captive bolt devices used for rendering animals unconscious prior to slaughter within the United Kingdom or euthanasia worldwide. This paper presents the results of the examination of cartridges as one of the variables that can contribute to an unsuccessful application of this method in practice. Variation was found in cartridge weight, propellant fill volume and velocity within boxes of 1000 cartridges. The variation found was greater in lower charge (1.00 grain) cartridges than in 3.00 grain cartridges, however velocity was found to be variable in both sets. For example, in vivo velocity measurements with 0.25″ calibre 3.00 grain cartridges demonstrated an average velocity of 50.8 m/s over 200 shots with a range of 35.7 to 62.9 m/s when used in the same device. This work demonstrates that variation in cartridge performance does occur and can be due to various factors such as fill volume and propellant function, and simply weighing cartridges cannot be used to determine function, therefore cartridge performance must be a factor that is considered in the event of a miss-stun.

The Use of a Non-Penetrating Captive Bolt for the Euthanasia of Neonate Piglets.

The most common method for the on-farm euthanasia of neonate piglets is reported to be manual blunt force trauma. This paper presents the results of research to evaluate a mechanical non-penetrating captive bolt (the Accles and Shelvoke CASH small animal tool, Birmingham, UK) to produce an immediate stun/kill with neonate piglets. One hundred and forty-seven piglets (average dead weight = 1.20 kg ± 0.58 (standard deviation, SD), mean age = 5.8 days (median = 3)) were euthanized with the device and demonstrated immediate loss of consciousness, subjectively assessed by behavioural signs and no recovery. The result that 147 out of 147 animals were effectively stun/killed gives a 95% confidence interval for the true percentage of animals that would be effectively stun/killed of 97.5-100% with the use of the CASH small animal tool under the conditions of the current study. This research concludes that the CASH small animal tool, using a 1 grain brown coded cartridge, is suitable for producing a stun/kill in neonate piglets when applied in a frontal/parietal position.

The Use of a Mechanical Non-Penetrating Captive Bolt Device for the Euthanasia of Neonate Lambs.

A non-penetrating captive bolt device, powered by a 1-grain 0.22″ cartridge delivering a calculated kinetic energy of 47 Joules was tested as a euthanasia method on 200 neonate lambs (Ovis aries) of 4.464 kg (SD (Standard deviation) ± 1.056) mean dead weight, to assess effectiveness and shot position. Every lamb (n = 200) was effectively stunned when the weapon was applied powered by a brown, 1-grain cartridge but 10/200 (5%) of the lambs displayed rhythmic or agonal breathing and were subsequently euthanased using euthatal (Merial, UK, GTIN: 03661103015550). Evaluation of the method was conducted using behavioural indicators of brain dysfunction followed by post-mortem examination of the heads. A second trial was conducted using a higher velocity 1.25-grain cartridge and a specific shot position on 48 lambs (mean dead weight = 6.21 kg, SD ± 1.24) averaging 5 days old. One hundred percent of the lambs in the second trial were immediately stun-killed. Given this complete kill rate and the sample size of the study, the study provides a statistical 95% confidence interval of 92.6% to 100%. The use of the Accles & Shelvoke "CASH" Small Animal Tool (Birmingham, UK) can therefore be recommended for the euthanasia of neonate lambs with a 1.25-grain cartridge and a specific shooting position.