Humane slaughter and regulations

In short

• For sale, meat must come from an approved or inspected abattoir. At home you kill only for your own household, and only under your country's rules.
• Every animal is stunned before it is bled. Pigs, sheep and goats are stunned only by someone who knows how, with the right equipment.
• Keep the time from stunning to sticking as short as possible: roughly 60 seconds at most after a captive bolt, 15 seconds after electric tongs.
• Have the meat of every pig (and wild boar) tested for Trichinella. Until the result arrives, nothing is eaten or processed.
• Chill the carcass in a space at 0–4 °C (32–39 °F), until the meat is below 7 °C (45 °F), before cutting.
• An animal on medication isn't slaughtered until the withdrawal period is over.

What's inside

Chapters

1. At home or at the abattoir
2. What the rules say
3. Preparing the animal and the place
4. Stunning: equipment and position
5. Bleeding
6. Scalding, skinning and gutting
7. Splitting and chilling
8. The Trichinella test
9. Small ruminants, rabbits and poultry
10. Safety on slaughter day
11. Waste and cleaning
12. Most common mistakes
13. Printable checklist

Worksheets

• Slaughter calendar
• Slaughter cost calculator
• Slaughter-day plan
• Slaughter log
• Slaughter kit list
• Contacts and regulations