Retrospective pig welfare assessment at rendering plants – a useful tool for monitoring and inspection

Abstract Background The COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 98/58/EC (1) states that animal owners and care takers must ensure that animals under their care are not subjected to unnecessary pain, suffering and injury. Until now, rendering plants as a potential ‘exit’ in animal production have been largely ignored as a potential assessment site for animal welfare monitoring. The aim of the present work was to provide an overview of welfare-related lesions commonly found in pigs at rendering plants. Data collection was carried out in Austrian and German rendering plants and focussed on lesions that were expected to be recognizable for any pig farmer. Results In the Austrian study, 20.8% of all pigs delivered to a rendering plant showed lesions potentially associated with substantial pain and/or suffering. In Germany, 16.0% of examined pigs (sample A) may have been exposed to substantial pain and/or suffering. Most common lesions were biting wounds, ulcerative skin lesions and swellings. Conclusions Based on the results it must be assumed that a considerable number of pigs experienced substantial pain and/or suffering prior to death. External examinations focusing on potentially welfare-relevant lesions carried out at rendering plants could be helpful in identifying farms at high risk of non-compliance with the Animal Welfare Act.