Stunning

Stunning is the set of methods used to immobilize animals and birds before slaughter so that killing is rapid and humane. It includes electrical stunning, captive-bolt (projectile) stunning, and carbon-dioxide stunning, each matched to species and slaughter system. Effective stunning renders the animal immediately insensible, which is both a welfare requirement and a meat-quality measure, since poorly stunned animals suffer and produce stressed, defective meat. In poultry, electrical stunning parameters also affect carcass quality, and stunning efficacy is audited as a critical welfare control point in modern abattoirs.