Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31174418›Full record

ArticleAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI2019

Macroscopic Examination of Multiple-Shot Cattle Heads-An Animal Welfare Due Diligence Tool for Abattoirs Using Penetrating Captive Bolt Devices?

Andrew Grist, Toby G Knowles, Stephen Wotton

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 42% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Pathophysiology of penetrating captive-bolt stunning of horses.Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Andrew GristBristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK. andy.grist@bristol.ac.uk.
Toby G KnowlesBristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK. toby.knowles@bristol.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0002-3845-0942
Stephen WottonBristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK. steve.wotton@bristol.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0002-9855-0267
University of Bristol · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Ideally, the application of a penetrating captive bolt device to render cattle immediately unconscious prior to slaughter would be 100% effective. Unfortunately, due to various factors this is not always the case. This paper examined, as an initial proof of concept, 12 bovine heads which had received more than one shot from a penetrating captive bolt, collected from various abattoirs within the United Kingdom. The heads were frozen to facilitate splitting on the medial plane to prevent distortion of soft tissue and each sagittal section was examined macroscopically to ascertain if this method could be used to determine the reasons for repeated stun attempts. In 10 out of 12 heads, shot placement was the determining factor, in one other head it was felt that anatomical variation was the reason and the twelfth head demonstrated signs of gun malfunction as the likely cause. This work provides evidence for a larger trial to facilitate the production of guidance for the abattoir industry, the Animal Welfare Officer and regulators on the examination of heads as part of an investigation of failures of a mechanical stunning system and to provide training material for slaughter staff tasked with effectively stunning cattle.

Indexed as

abattoiranimal welfareAnimal Welfare Officercaptive boltcattledue diligencemultiple stun attempts

Identifiers

PMID31174418
PMCPMC6616863
OpenAlexW2949022710

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.