UNETHICAL SLAUGHTERING PRACTICES AT THE TRANSIENT ABATTOIR OF THE INTERNATIONAL CATTLE MARKET, IBADAN, NIGERIA.

Résumé

Unethical practice in handling and slaughtering of cattle is on the increase in Nigerian abattoirs. Proper handling and prevention of stress in animals prior to slaughter avails good carcass. The study was carried out at Akinyele international Cattle Market abattoir in Ibadan for a period of five consecutive weeks. information were gathered on the restraining methods, slaughtering style, slaughtering interval and processing interval from 7.00am – 7.00pm daily using direct observation with the aid of checklist. Data were subjected to descriptive statistics using frequencies and percentages. Out of the 1839 slaughtered cattle observed at the facility during the period of the study, a total number of 1584 cattle (87.2%) were slaughtered without restraining while 255 were restrained before slaughter. A total of 1635 cattle (89%) were bled by slashing through the neck while 11% were slaughtered by piercing narrowly with knife. Most cattle (72.2%) were slaughtered within the first 5 minutes of arrival at the abattoir while a larger number of cattle slaughtered were also processed within the first 1-5 minutes. It could be concluded that cattle handling and slaughtering practices at Akinyele International Market were unethical. Slaughtering should therefore be done humanely, cattle should be properly restrained before bleeding and allowed to bleed well before the commencement of singeing or further processing.