Stress-related hormones in horses before and after stunning by captive bolt gun

In this work the slaughter-linked plasma modifications of some stress-related hormones in horses subject to standardized butchering procedures were investigated in order to highlight the compromised animal welfare during pre-slaughter handling. During pre-slaughter, animals show strong hardship beha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Meat science 2010-04, Vol.84 (4), p.634-637
Main Authors: Micera, Elisabetta, Albrizio, Maria, Surdo, Nicoletta C., Moramarco, Angela M., Zarrilli, Antonia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abattoirs
adrenal medulla
Adrenocorticotropic Hormone
age at slaughter
animal handling
animal housing
animal stress
Animal Welfare
Animals
Beta-endorphin
beta-Endorphin - blood
Biological and medical sciences
blood serum
catecholamines
Catecholamines - blood
Cortisol
endorphins
Epinephrine
Food industries
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Horse
horse meat
horses
Horses - blood
Hydrocortisone - blood
Male
Meat and meat product industries
Norepinephrine
slaughter
Slaughtering
Stress
stress tolerance
Stress, Physiological - physiology
Stunning
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Summary:In this work the slaughter-linked plasma modifications of some stress-related hormones in horses subject to standardized butchering procedures were investigated in order to highlight the compromised animal welfare during pre-slaughter handling. During pre-slaughter, animals show strong hardship behavioural patterns, probably due to being under life-threatening conditions. Blood samples from 12 male horses, ageing from 3 to 5 years, were collected before slaughtering in lairage, and during exsanguination after stunning. Catecholamines, cortisol and beta-endorphin concentrations were assessed in plasma samples by EIA. Results show that plasma beta-endorphin concentration did not increase significantly after stunning, while cortisol ( P < 0.05) and catecholamines ( P < 0.001) increased significantly. The ratio between the plasma level of norepinephrine and epinephrine decreased significantly ( P < 0.001) during the time considered for observation underlining a greater involvement of adrenal medulla in the stress response. Moreover these results suggest that, under stress, the release of beta-endorphin could be different from that of ACTH.
ISSN:0309-1740
1873-4138
DOI:10.1016/j.meatsci.2009.10.023