Development of Humane Livestock and Aquaculture Stunning Apparatus

    Humane slaughter aims to render animals unconscious before slaughter to alleviate suffering and enhance welfare. Electrical stunning is one of the primary methods for humane slaughter of livestock in Taiwan. However, existing electrical stunning devices (stunning apparatus) face issues such as unstable current output and inability to adjust specifications, resulting in unsafe stunning of livestock, carcass damage, and even endangerment of operator safety.

    The patented stunning apparatus developed by the Agricultural Research Institute (certificate number: TW M506476) complies with the "Animal Protection Act," "Humane Slaughter Guidelines for Livestock," and international standards for humane slaughter of livestock and aquaculture operations. Through electronic control technology, it provides stable output and input voltage, current, and frequency, with the frequency modulation function lacking in conventional electrical stunning devices. Coupled with the principle of animal muscle nerve conduction, it effectively stuns livestock and aquaculture products, overcoming issues such as excessive muscle contraction during stunning and seizure reactions post-stunning, thereby avoiding various types of post-slaughter carcass damage (bone fractures, bleeding points, bruising, muscle tearing, fiber rupture, etc.). Based on trial effectiveness from 2023, the slaughter of approximately 120,000 pigs has reduced losses by around 490,000 USD, meeting regulatory requirements and industry demands for stunning effectiveness and carcass quality.

    There are approximately 120 livestock slaughterhouses and over 600 slaughter lines in Taiwan, indicating high domestic market demand. With advantages such as lower costs compared to European standard equipment and ease of maintenance, there is high potential to international markets such as China and Southeast Asia.

Source: March issue e-newsletter from the Agricultural Science Institute's Research and Development Center