ArticleAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI2023
Impact of Social Buffering and Restraint on Welfare Indicators during UK Commercial Horse Slaughter.
Article in Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Welfare of horses at slaughter.EFSA journal. European Food Safety Authority · 2025Article
- Welfare of horses during killing for purposes other than slaughter.EFSA journal. European Food Safety Authority · 2025Article
- Assessment of ante mortem welfare indicators and the pathophysiology of captive-bolt trauma in equids at slaughter.Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Current legislation in the United Kingdom stipulates that horses should not be slaughtered within sight of one another. However, abattoir personnel anecdotally report that, for semi-feral horses unused to restraint, co-slaughtering alongside a conspecific could reduce distress through social buffering and improve safety, but there is a lack of evidence to support this. CCTV footage from an English abattoir was assessed retrospectively with welfare indicators from when horses entered the kill pen until they were killed. Of 256 horses analysed, 12% (32/256) were co-slaughtered (alongside a conspecific) and 88% (224/256) individually. Co-slaughtered horses moved more in the pen, but individually slaughtered horses showed more agitated behaviour, required more encouragement to enter the kill pen, and experienced more slips or falls. Unrestrained horses (40%; 102/256) showed increased agitation, movement, and agonistic behaviour towards the operator and resisted entry to the kill pen compared to restrained horses (60%; 154/256). Positive interactions between conspecifics were seen in 94% (30/32) of co-slaughtered horses, and only 6% (1/16) showed a startled response to the first horse being shot, with a median time of 15 s between shots. This study highlights the impact that both conspecific and human interactions can have on equine welfare at slaughter. Semi-feral or unrestrained horses appear to experience increased distress compared to horses more familiar with human handling, and the presence of a conspecific at slaughter mitigated this.
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Registered trials
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.