At Menzel's Meats, pigs are paralysed using an electric stunner. Larger pigs and sows are shot with a rifle to stun them. A worker pursues smaller pigs with the stunner and restrains them by physically holding them down or fails to restrain them, instead jabbing the stunner into their head or neck as they try and flee. Sows and pigs are observed thrashing for minutes after being shot or stabbed by the electric stunner. On some occasions, sows are not paralysed after one rifle shot and have to be shot again. One sow is observed escaping down the race after being shot for the first time, bleeding from the head and mouth. She is then herded back into the pen and shot again. Pigs are often herded in on top of dead and dying pigs and display visible distress and fear as others are shot or electrocuted around them.
According to the Australian Standard for the Hygienic Production and Transportation of Meat and Meat Products for Human Consumption (AS 4696), animals should be restrained "in a way that ensures stunning is effective," and are "stunned in a way that ensures the animals are unconscious and insensible to pain before sticking occurs..." These already inadequate standards are clearly and repeatedly violated at Menzel's Meats.
www.primesafe.vic.gov.au/uploads/Australian%20Standards/AS%204696-2007.pdf
Studies show that blinking, eye movement, posture and attempts to right themselves are all signs of consciousness and should be seen as indicators that an animal is still able to experience pain. All of these behaviours are observed repeatedly at Menzel's Meats.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4299535/pdf/S1751731114002596a.pdf
