Scientists and Tönnies are calling for changes to the stunning rules
An extraordinary alliance of science, NGOs and the Tönnies company calls on politicians to take action to further increase animal welfare when stunning and slaughtering farm animals. It is urgently necessary to subject the CO2 stunning to a critical examination, to adapt the electrical stunning to the current knowledge and to accelerate the approval procedures for further research projects. All those involved in a one-day open mind workshop organized by Tönnies Research were of the unanimous opinion that only then can animal welfare be further improved.
The stunning of farm animals has been discussed intensively and sometimes controversially for many years in scientific research, in business practice and in the media. In order to make progress in the stunning process, Tönnies Research has already financed and supported several projects to research alternative stunning methods. To date, however, no alternative to the methods practiced has prevailed anywhere in the world. The methods used are recognized by scientists, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the Tönnies company for the best current stunning methods.
How can the CO2-Optimize stunning in meat production through technical and organizational adjustments? Are there any stunning methods that are even more gentle on animals? It is precisely these questions that leading national and international scientists and NGOs in Rheda-Wiedenbrück have dealt with.
The forum, which was made up of top-class scientists and leading representatives from animal welfare organizations, debated in a targeted manner in order to achieve noticeable improvements in the stunning process as quickly as possible. Representatives of Tönnies research discussed with leading experts such as Prof. Dr. Dr. hc Jörg Hartung from the University of Applied Sciences in Hanover, the animal welfare officer of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Gerlinde von Dehn, or animal welfare experts such as Frigga Wirths (German Animal Welfare Association) and Lesley Moffat (Eyes of Animals). The focus was on the scientific exchange on the latest research results and potential new research fields to improve the stunning of the animals before the slaughter process. Clemens Tönnies, managing partner of the Tönnies group of companies, praised the commitment of research: “We want anesthesia with CO2 develop and improve together with you. We are very interested in taking something forward here, ”said Tönnies.
Various institutions such as the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, the Danish Technological Institute and the Max Rubner Institute presented their current research results in the field of anesthesia in several impulse lectures. The exchange between the scientists about their research projects and the possible improvements in CO2-Stuning in conjunction with other noble gases such as argon or helium were carefully recorded, as was the further development of electrical stunning. In the opinion of the participants, the introduction of a test and approval procedure is of outstanding importance with regard to electrical stunning. All participants in the workshop are united by the goal of sustainably improving animal welfare.
