Report of the Committee appointed by the Admiralty to consider the humane slaughtering of animals, with appendix.

  • Great Britain. Committee on Humane Slaughtering of Animals.
Date:
1904
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Committee appointed by the Admiralty to consider the humane slaughtering of animals, with appendix. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    35/38 (page 25)
    (2) THe OPERATION OF CUTTING THE THROAT. The animal being thus secured and the head strongly extended, the slaughtermen call for the Jewish official who alone is licensed to give the death cut. This man is armed with a knife shaped like a large table knife. It is kept very sharp. He comes to the animal, and with one cut divides all the tissues in the front of the neck, subsequently passing his finger through the wound to make certain that the vessels are divided. Some little time after, in some cases, another man, with a smaller knife, makes a second incision, with the view of cleaning out the veins. Inthe cases which we have classed as satis/actory, the primary and main incision is at once followed by a great rush of blood, and for ten seconds there may be little or no movement on the part ofthe animal. Then strong convulsive struggles began, which later on became regular and conform exactly to the type recognised by all physiologists as produced by anemia of the brain and spinal cord. It has been stated by advocates of the Jewish method of slaughtering that in this method consciousness is abolished either immediately after the incision has been made, or at any rate within five seconds. We have therefore paid strict attention to the phenomena presented by the animals after the incision. Criteria for the existence of consciousness are notably difficult to obtain. (See first part of this Report.) As indicative of the continued existence of consciousness, we regarded the continuation after incision of the movements of escape which the animal had been making immediately before its head was secured for the cut. These were called in our notes purposive struggles and are easily distinguished from the spasms due to anzmia of the brain and nerve centres, which come on rather later. In the cases where these purposive struggles were absent or prevented by the manner in which the animal’s head was fixed, we may regard consciousness as disappearing a second or two before the onset of the twitching of the superficial muscles of the animal. Disappearance of the sensibility of the eyeball or the onset of the typical asphyxial spasms always denote that consciousness of the animal has been abolished some time previously. : We may here give the notes of the symptoms displayed by the animals slaughtered on the occasion of our second visit to Deptford. All the animals were bullocks. They were of American origin and were regarded by the attendants as quiet beasts. Bullock 1. This animal looked ill and was in bad condition. It was thrown without difficulty. Aiter the first cut, the first twitching of muscles occurred in twenty seconds. Deep respirations and general twitching in one and a half minutes. Sensibility of eyeball disappeared in three and a half minutes. General convulsions then ensued, but were feeble and of slight duration. Consciousness lasted less than twenty seconds. Bullock 2. A more powerful animal. Directly after the throat was cut the animal, its head being loosed, made “ purposive ”’ struggles, dashing from side to side and against the floor, as it had done immediately before the head was secured. These struggles lasted thirty seconds. At this point spasmodic movement of breathing began ; sensibility of the eyeball disappeared in three minutes. General spasms began in five minutes. Duration of consciousness—twenty to thirty seconds. Bullock 3. In this case the cut was very free and was followed by a great rush of blood, the animal’s head being kept in an extended position. It seemed to one of us (M. F.) that immediately after the cut the sensibility of the eyeball was temporarily abolished, returning again, however, later. The first spasmodic movement of respiration occurred at twenty seconds. Duration of consciousness—probably less than five seconds. _ Bullock 4. In this case the cut was not so free. The blood spurted out in streams instead of coming at one rush, showing that for some time there must have been sufficient pressure in the arterial system to force blood to the brain through the vertebral arteries which are never divided by the cut. The first general struggle occurred in forty seconds and the sensibility of the eyeball was abolished in one minute twenty seconds. Duration of consciousness—less than forty seconds. Bullock 5. This was a strong animal and resisted violently when thrown. The cut was not free enough and a second cut was made at twenty-five seconds after the first. The first cut was followed by purposive struggles. The first respiratory spasm occurred at thirty-five seconds and the sensibility of the eyeball disappeared at two and a half minutes. Duration of consciousness—twenty to twenty-five seconds. Bullock 6. In this case the cut was very free, and the discharge of blood was very full and rapid. In this case, again, the sensibility of the eyeball was apparently gone in ten seconds, returning later. Duration of consciousness—probably less than ten seconds. Bullock 7. General spasms began fifteen seconds after the cut. There was no immediate abolition of the sensibility of the eyeball, though the cut was fairly free. Duration of consciousness—probably less than fifteen seconds. Bullock 8. Twitching of the surface muscles began twenty seconds after the cut. The first spasmodic respiration occurred at forty-five seconds, Probable duration of consciousness—just under twenty seconds. Bullock 9. The cut was free with a rapid escape of blood; superficial twitching began in twenty-five seconds. Sensibility of the eyeball lasted for some time later. Probable duration of consciousness—less than twenty-five seconds. As a result of our investigation we were struck with the variability of the symptoms displayed by the different animals and the uncertainty of the method for producing the rapid disappearance of consciousness. Of the cases enumerated above, two may be regarded as satisfactory, viz., Bullocks 3 and 6. In each of these the cut was very successful, the outflow of blood very free, 193.—R D