The meat industry is littered with small, cost-of-doing-business cruelties that are invisible to most consumers. There are turtles, fish dolphins, turtles, and marine animals that are killed in the name of “bycatch” in industrial fishing operations; male chicks that are gassed or crushed to death at egg factories, where they aren’t needed; and male pigs nuts that are castrated in many countries without anesthetic to keep out “boar taint” from making their meat smell smoky.
Fortunately, these can be situations where technology can benefit animals while keeping businesses accountable (or even aiding them). Alternate equipment (like green LED lights) can decrease the chance of being caught in bycatch. A method called “in-ovo egg sexing” allows egg producers to determine the gender of the chicks before they are born and then abort males before they can feel discomfort.
Today, I’m going to focus specifically on one of smallest-known technological fixes that can dramatically alleviate animal suffering: immunocastration for pigs.Right today, surgical casting of pigs with no anesthetic is commonplace in a number of countries including the US. The defenders of the procedure, which includes Smithfield Foods, the largest US manufacturer of pork, Smithfield Foods, insist that the procedure is essential to prevent “boar taint,” an unpleasant odor and taste created through the hormonal compound androstenone as well as the digestive compound skatole.
Androstenone is a smell that irritates some people as sweat or urine, whereas the sktole is the most prominent smell of the human excrement. The Allies employed skatole as an effective weapon that wasn’t lethal during World War II, literally suffocating Axis army units by sprinkling them with scent of shit (they did not employ it in Japan because they believed that they would be able to convince the Japanese did not mind that shit smell however, I digress.).
Then there’s the impact of castingration in male aggression which improves management of farms through preventing fights between animals. “The No. top reason is the health of our pigs as well as the health of our caretakers,” says Dave Pyburn who is a veterinarian and the vice president for research and development for the National Pork Board.
Castration that is not anesthetic-free is obviously extremely painful. A study of literature published by the American Veterinary Medical Association in 2013 has uncovered ample evidence to show that piglets feel discomfort during the procedure, due to their elevated amounts of stress hormones such as cortisol to their loud squealing and their trembling , and then sitting in a solitary position for days following the procedure.
The policymakers of the European Union have been trying to end surgical castration for many years and a declaration made in 2010 of the EU panel demanded its removal across every one of the EU members by the year 2018 but this goal was clearly not achieved. Certain countries, such as those in the UK along with Ireland, have made progress towards achieving this target by slaughtering pigs prior puberty, which lowers the yield of pork.
However, other countries such as Australia, New Zealand as well as Brazil make use of immunocastration, A series of two injections that inhibit the production of a hormone that promotes the growth of testicular tissue in pigs, which prevents boar taint.
How the American pork industry can alleviate pig pain
There’s a readily available vaccine which is advertised by the name of Improvest on the US for the purpose of immunocastration. It’s not an initial stage technology. Giovana Vieira, veterinarian as well as animal welfare expert at the Humane League, reports that 1.3 million pigs undergo an immunocastration procedure each month in farms across the globe. Vieira claims that the process is “basically pain-free,” reduces mortality, and results in larger (and more efficient in food production) pork pigs. This boosts the profitability of pork producers and decreases the carbon footprint of the industry.
The typical reason used by the pork industry to not adopting immunocastration is that people won’t take it seriously;pigs nuts they’ll fear that the chemicals are contaminating their meat. It’s not just a mythological concern (the injections are almost completely out of the pig’s body when it’s killed) but also proven by consumer surveys in countries that are considering the use of the idea of immunocastration such as Italy.
A spokesperson for the NPB’s Pyburn is one of the experts who believes that Vieira is on the right side of fact: “I have seen research that shows it helps male pigs in terms of production and can result in greater efficiency in the growth of production. It’s a win for producers, if they decide to pursue this.” He continues “We’re in favor of our producers having an option and in the process of being approved by the FDA approval in March 2011, a possibility our producers have the option of choosing. pigs nuts, However, that’s entirely up to them and is based on their current labor conditions in their farming.”
There are many tough calls to be made in the field regarding animal welfare. pigs nuts, This isn’t one them. If the use of immunocastration results in increased profits for pork producers and animals, it will cause less pain to them and lower carbon emissions to the earth, Smithfield and other US producers have no reason to avoid the idea.
