Euthanasia

Khoo, S. Y.-S., Lay, B. P. P., Joya, J. et al. 2018. Local anaesthetic refinement of pentobarbital euthanasia reduces abdominal writhing without affecting immunohistochemical endpoints in rats. Laboratory Animals 52(2), 152-162.

Sodium pentobarbital is a commonly used agent for euthanizing laboratory rats, however its high pH can cause abdominal discomfort after intraperitoneal injection. Previous studies suggest that the addition of a local anaesthetic may alleviate this...

Köhler, A., Collymore, C., Finger-Baier, K. et al. 2017. Report of Workshop on Euthanasia for Zebrafish—A Matter of welfare and science. Zebrafish 14(6), 547-551.

The increasing importance of zebrafish as a biomedical model organism is reflected by the steadily growing number of publications and laboratories working with this species. Regulatory recommendations for euthanasia as issued in Directive 2010/63/EU are...

Fiedler, K. J., Parsons, R. L., Sadler, L. J. et al. 2016. Effects of stocking rate on measures of efficacy and welfare during argon gas euthanasia of weaned pigs. Animal Welfare 25(1), 83-89.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of chamber stocking rate on facets of animal welfare and efficacy during euthanasia of weaned pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) with argon gas. Two hundred and...

Rodríguez, P., Dalmau, A., Manteca, X. et al. 2016. Assessment of aversion and unconsciousness during exposure to carbon dioxide at high concentration in lambs. Animal Welfare 25(1), 73-82.

The most widely used stunning method in sheep is electrical. However, in lambs, this method leads to rupture of the blood vessels, provoking ecchymoses. In pigs (Sus scrofa), the use of CO2-stunning systems has increased...

Martin, J. E., McKeegan, D. E. F., Sparrey, J. et al. 2016. Comparison of novel mechanical cervical dislocation and a modified captive bolt for on-farm killing of poultry on behavioural reflex responses and anatomical pathology.

An alternative emergency method for killing poultry on-farm is required following European legislation changes (EU 1099/2009), which heavily restricts the use of manual cervical dislocation. This study investigated the kill efficacy of two mechanical methods...

Gilliam, J. N., Shearer, J. K., Bahr, R. J. et al. 2016. Evaluation of brainstem disruption following penetrating captive-bolt shot in isolated cattle heads: comparison of traditional and alternative shot-placement landmarks.

Currently recommended landmarks for captive-bolt euthanasia of cattle often result in failure to penetrate the brainstem. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability to disrupt the brainstem by placing the shot at...

Bermejo-Poza, R., De la Fuente, J., Pérez, C. 2016. Reducing the effect of pre-slaughter fasting on the stress response of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Animal Welfare 25(3), 339-346.

Fasting is commonly used in aquaculture to empty the gut before slaughter, but little is known about how feeding frequency before fasting affects the stress response of trout. To find out more, 240 rainbow trout...

Orford, F., Ford, E. A., Brown, S. N. et al. 2016. The evaluation of two commercial electric sheep stunning systems: current applied and the effect on heart function. Animal Welfare 25(3), 331-337.

The maintenance of head-only minimum stunning currents for sheep to ≥ 1.0 Amp as per current legislation was examined in two trials in a commercial abattoir. In the first trial, a Jetco MS100 stunner failed...

Roth, B., Grimsbø, E. 2016. Electrical stunning of edible crabs (Cancer pagurus): from single experiments to commercial practice. Animal Welfare 25(4), 489-497.

To determine the optimal electrical stunning conditions for edible crabs (Cancer pagurus) their impedance was investigated along with currents with the potential to render the animal insensible within 1 s. This information was used to...

Sutherland, M. A., Watson, T. J., Johnson, C. B. et al. 2016. Evaluation of the efficacy of a non-penetrating captive bolt to euthanase neonatal goats up to 48 hours of age. Animal Welfare 25(4), 471-479.

Manual blunt force trauma is a common method of euthanasia or culling of goat kids, however it is difficult to apply consistently and may vary in effectiveness. Therefore, a controlled mechanical method is needed. The...

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