Position Statement on Pig Castration
Maria Belu
Background:
Castration of pigs has been a long standing practice in the U.S and has recently come under scrutiny as welfare issues have become more important. Castration of male piglets has been done to deal with a phenomenon known as “boar taint”. When male pigs reach puberty, they secrete a pheromone known as Androstenon, and an intestinal product, Skatole, both which give the meat an offensive odor many consumers find intolerable (AVMA, 2013). Castration alleviates this problem but since it is commonly done without analgesia or anesthetic, it causes acute and prolonged pain and stress (Carrol et al, 2006). Below I briefly discuss several scientific papers that discuss the advantages and disadvantages of physical castration, current possible alternatives, and my recommendations. My recommendations are not only based on what can be practically carried out by the swine industry but provides the best welfare for the pigs. Good welfare can be defined as minimizing pain, decreasing stress, and increasing productivity which is a sign of good health.
The welfare of swine castration:
The main disadvantage and welfare concern of castration is pain and stress. Pain felt by the piglet during castration was investigated and reviewed by Carrol el al. (2006) who confirmed what researchers Prunier et al., (2005) had previously investigated, which, was that castration causes physiologic and behavioral signs pain and stress. The markers for these were increased cortisol, lactate, and heart rate. Piglets showed pain-specific behaviors after castration including vocalization, trembling and spams. Castrated piglets spent more time at the teat which is known to help animals cope with stress (Moya...
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...th performance, body composition, behaviour and acute phase proteins. Livestock Sci. 132(1-3):53-59.
Guay, G., Salgado, G., Thompson, B., Davis, A., Sapkota, A., Chaya, W., McGlone, J.J. 2013. Behavior and handling of physically- and immunologically-castrated market pigs on farm and going to market. J. Anim. Sci. jas. 2012-5726
Llamas, S.M., Boyle, L.A., Lynch, P.B., and Arkins, S. 2008. Effect of surgical castration on the behavioural and acute phase responses of 5-day-old piglets. Applied Animal Behavior Science. 133-145.
Prunier, A., A. M. Mounier, and M. Hay. 2005. Effects of castration, tooth resection, or tail docking on plasma metabolites and stress hormones in young pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 83:216–222
Thun, R., Gajewski, F., Janett, F. Castration in male pigs: Techniques and animal welfare issues. 2006. Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology. Supp 8, 189-194.
Seven adult female pigs, weighing 50±10 kg, were fasted overnight prior to protocol initiation with unlimited water access. Induction of anesthesia was achieved with intramuscular injection ...
The Support of Research of that Privation in Infancy will Have Adverse Effects on Later Development
The use of horses for human consumption dates back to the earliest use of animals for human consumption. Horses are used for food in many counties but are also considered inhumane in other countries. In the United States specifically, horsemeat is not the norm for consumed meat. There seems to be a problem that has arisen. It is suspected that horses being slaughtered at horse slaughtering factories are not the most up to date, pain free for the horse, and human as people suspect them to be like beef kill floors.
Power is authority and strength, which is any form of motive force or energy, ability to act, or control. When too much power is given, a dictatorship government can form, in which all decisions are made by one authority. In the book Animal Farm, by George Orwell the author portrays how “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Lord Acton).
Throughout every human’s life in the United States, there will portably come a time when they take a trip to an aquarium or zoo. Do not get me wrong; it is incredible to see all those beautiful creatures up close and personal, but most people do not realize what actually is going on. Typically, when the day is spent at the zoo or aquarium, the day usually follows a schedule like this: You spend the day roaming the grounds, moving from habitat to habitat, break for lunch, and then once you’ve seen everything you want to see you return home and are free to do whatever you want to do. The harsh reality of these places is that while it is cool to spend the day there, you would never want to spend your entire life there. The animals are taken from
Norcross, Alastair. “Puppies, Pigs, and People: Eating Meat and Marginal Cases.” Philosophical Perspectives 18, (2004): 229-245.
can see this whilst he is still on the farm, as he is always doing
Lobban, Richard, Jr. (1994, February). Pigs and Their Prohibition. International Journal of Middle East Studies 25(1), 57.
14. Neilson J, Eckstein R, Hart B. Effects of castration on problem behaviors in male dogs with reference to age and duration of behavior. J Am Vet Med Assoc 1997; 211:180–182.
In Labs 22 through 26, my lab partner and I were assigned a fetal pig to perform a dissection on in order to understand anatomy, the study of an organism’s structure1, and physiology, the study of the functions and activities of a living organism2. Throughout these labs, we studied the structure of the fetal pig and performed experiments to understand four system processes: digestion, cardiovascular, respiratory, and excretory. Dissecting an organism, physically moving and seeing the different portions of the organism, especially of a fetal pig, is very important. This helps in the understanding of the skeletal structure and what series of physical and chemical processes the mammalian species body performs in order to survive.
Biomedical Research | Animal Use Research. N.p., n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
Most of the research in the literature is quantitative, a significant amount of which is biomedical. A common approach is animal studies which are limited in what they can tell us about the human condition. Rat models a...
Everyone, no matter what you do in your life, has a routine. A lot of people do end in anger when their comfortable routine is broken, In the story, “Death of a Pig”, anger isn’t necessarily the correct emotion to describe out main character. In Mr. White’s experience, he gradually opened to one of the worst types of changes that a farmer could experience, a change in his animals. As his pig falls into the clutches of death, Mr. White opens his opinions and evidence of change all the way through to the very end, these being separated through multiple stages.
A major ethical concern that has been under speculation for many of years is focused around animal ethics, and whether or not certain animal practices are just or inhuman. There are many questions that focus around fundamental issues concerning the moral status of animals. It is critical to understand the difference between a concern for animal welfare and a concern for animal rights. A current issue that is important to understand and analyze is animal experimentation, and although many consider it to be an unethical practice, there are many pros and cons to the controversial topic. Although animal experimentation has been very beneficial medically, the argument can be made that using animals to experiment is not always necessary.
Every year, millions of animals experience painful, suffering and death due to results of scientific research as the effects of drugs, medical procedures, food additives, cosmetics and other chemical products. Basically, animal experimentation has played a dominant role in leading with new findings and human advantages. Animal research has had a main function in many scientific and medical advances in the past decade and is helping in the understanding of several diseases. While most people believe than animal testing is necessary, others are worried about the excessive suffering of this innocent’s creatures. The balance between the rights of animals and their use in medical research is a delicate issue with huge societal assumptions. Nowadays people are trying to understand and take in consideration these social implications based in animals rights. Even though, many people tend to disregard animals that have suffered permanent damage during experimentation time. Many people try to misunderstand the nature of life that animals just have, and are unable to consider the actual laboratory procedures and techniques that these creatures tend to be submitted. Animal experimentation must be excluded because it is an inhumane way of treat animals, it is unethical, and exist safer ways to test products without painful test.