An intercontinental survey of commercial abattoirs: Preliminary data on the prevalence of advanced pre-slaughter health and welfare conditions in mature cows

摘要

A survey was conducted to describe the distribution of 10 advanced health and welfare conditions in cows destined for slaughter within a large, multinational beef supply chain. The survey included 4,211 groups of cows (N = 76,886] from 13 countries in3 areas of the world (Europe, Brazil, and the United States]. Thirty-four commercial abattoirs participated in Europe, 9 in the United States, and 7 in Brazil. The survey was conducted in July, August, and September 2014. The conditions were non-ambulatory (NA], severe lameness (SL], ocular neoplasia (ON], wounds (W], malaise (M], nervous system disorders (NSD], poor udder condition (PUC], active parturition (AP], uterine prolapse (UP], and low body condition score (LBCS]. Of all animals evaluated, 2.98% displayed at least 1 condition. The 3 most common conditions were LBCS (45.6% of conditions observed], PUC (20.3% of conditions observed], and SL (16.3% of conditions observed]. The combination of "Dairy" and "Mixed Beef and Dairy" groups of cows accounted for 69.6% of the total population, and 82.3% of all conditions observed. The most common conditions observed in Europe and the United States were LBCS, PUC, and SL, while LBCS, NA, and AP were the 3 most common conditions in Brazil.