<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Procedures that result in poor welfare of animals are unacceptable to many people. Consumers have become demanding about the quality of meat, but are also concerned about animal welfare during the production, transport, and slaughter stages. There is a well-known, clear relationship between animal welfare and the quality of animal products. Improper handling of farmed animals contributes to low meat quality. This rule refers to all animals raised for meat, including rabbits. Fasting, loading for transport, long distance transport in difficult environmental conditions, improper stocking density, lying down during transport, lairage, and stunning methods may negatively affect the quality of rabbit meat. A general conclusion from reviewed scientific articles is that many pre-slaughter factors influence the physiological and productive measurements of rabbits, through the effect on their welfare. Because of the complexity of the rabbit meat production chain, the possibility of excluding all the defined stressors is limited.</p></abstract>

Procedures that result in poor welfare of animals are unacceptable to many people. Consumers have become demanding about the quality of meat, but are also concerned about animal welfare during the production, transport, and slaughter stages. There is a well-known, clear relationship between animal welfare and the quality of animal products. Improper handling of farmed animals contributes to low meat quality. This rule refers to all animals raised for meat, including rabbits. Fasting, loading for transport, long distance transport in difficult environmental conditions, improper stocking density, lying down during transport, lairage, and stunning methods may negatively affect the quality of rabbit meat. A general conclusion from reviewed scientific articles is that many pre-slaughter factors influence the physiological and productive measurements of rabbits, through the effect on their welfare. Because of the complexity of the rabbit meat production chain, the possibility of excluding all the defined stressors is limited.

Pre-Slaughter Handling Implications on Rabbit Carcass and Meat Quality – A Review

Department of Animal Breeding and Product Quality Assessment, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science

Annals of Animal Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Procedures that result in poor welfare of animals are unacceptable to many people. Consumers have become demanding about the quality of meat, but are also...

Pre-Slaughter Handling Implications on Rabbit Carcass and Meat Quality – A Review

Published Online: Oct 30, 2019

Page range: 875 - 885

Received: Feb 06, 2019

Accepted: Jun 14, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aoas-2019-0041

Keywords
meat quality, rabbit meat, welfare

© 2019 Joanna Składanowska-Baryza et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Pre-Slaughter Handling Implications on Rabbit Carcass and Meat Quality – A Review

Published Online: Oct 30, 2019

Page range: 875 - 885

Received: Feb 06, 2019

Accepted: Jun 14, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aoas-2019-0041

Keywordsmeat quality, rabbit meat, welfare

© 2019 Joanna Składanowska-Baryza et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
meat quality, rabbit meat, welfare