Effect of neck cut position on time to collapse in halal slaughtered cattle without stunning

- Collapse used as an indicator of the early stages of onset of unconsciousness.
- High neck cut reduced the time to final collapse compared to the conventional cut.
- Proportion of cattle that took > 20 s to collapse was reduced by the high neck cut.
- High neck cut could reduce the suffering associated with slaughter without stunning.

This study examined the effect of neck cut position on the time to physical collapse in upright restrained halal slaughtered cattle (n = 644). Time to collapse was used as an indirect indicator of the early stages of onset of unconsciousness. Cattle were slaughtered with either a conventional low (LNC) (n = 561) or a high neck cut (HNC) (n = 83). Mean time to final collapse was higher in the LNC compared to HNC group (18.9 ± 1.1 s and 13.5 ± 1.3 s respectively (P < 0.01)). The mean false aneurysm scores were higher in the LNC cattle (0.8 ± 0.0) compared to the HNC (0.6 ± 0.1) (P < 0.01). Animals that took > 20 s to final collapse had larger false aneurysms. In summary, the HNC reduced the mean time to final collapse and the frequency of animals that took longer than 20 s to collapse.