New Device Eases Stress of Euthanasia

September 5, 2012 — 

Research conducted on behalf of the National Pork Board and Swine Innovation-Porc has shown a device developed at the University of Guelph to be a highly effective alternative for euthanizing piglets. The Zephyr, a device that uses a non-penetrating captive bolt, was developed at the University of Guelph as an alternative to blunt force trauma to euthanize piglets.

With funding provided by the U.S.-based National Pork Board and the Canadian Swine Research and Development Cluster or Swine Innovation-Porc, scientists tested the effectiveness of the device in one study on piglets up to three days old and in another on larger piglets up to nine kilograms.

Dr. Tina Widowski, a professor of animal and poultry science and the director of the Campbell Centre for Animal Welfare at the University of Guelph, says the device was 100 percent effective, rendering all of the pigs immediately unconscious.

Dr. Widowski says developers are now seeking a manufacturer capable of producing the device on a commercial scale.

Source: Farmscape for September 4, 2012 (Episode 4229)