Comparison between two scoring methods to assess tail damage of docked pig carcasses during postmortem inspection in Ireland

• Published in: Veterinary record open 2023-12, Vol.10 (2), p.e66-n/a
• Main Authors: D'Alessio, Roberta Maria, McAloon, Conor G., Boyle, Laura Ann, Hanlon, Alison, O'Driscoll, Keelin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Original Research
• ISSN: 2399-2050; 2052-6113; 2052-6113
• DOI: 10.1002/vro2.66

Background Tail inspection in the abattoir is a tool to help determine the welfare status of pigs. However, methodologies vary widely. Moreover, meat inspection is moving from palpation and incision towards visual‐only (VIS) examination. This study investigated whether a VIS examination was sufficient to detect tail damage compared to handling (HAND), which ensures examination of all aspects of the tail. Method The severity of tail skin damage (0 [undamaged] – 4 [partial/full loss of tail]) and presence/absence of bruises was scored using both methods after scalding/dehairing of 5498 pig carcasses. Results There was a good relationship between methods when evaluating tail skin damage (sensitivity, 82.48%; specificity, 99.98%; accuracy, 98.98%; correlation ρ = 0.84). The results were similar for the presence of bruises (sensitivity, 74.98%; specificity, 99.09%; accuracy, 89.94%; correlation ρ = 0.79). However, the percentage of tails classified as undamaged was higher using VIS (69.9%) than HAND (63.55%) examination. Conversely, VIS detected fewer mild lesions (score 1 – 13.64%; score 2 – 11.73%) than HAND (score 1 – 15.21%; score 2 – 15.53%). A higher percentage of bruises was detected using HAND than VIS (37.96% vs. 29.03%). Conclusions Visual evaluation is a valid alternative to handling evaluation of carcass tail damage and bruising.