Humane slaughter of poultry: The case against the use of electrical stunning devices

Is the use of electrical stunners adequately discharging our moral obligations with respect to the humane slaughter of poultry? Below, three separate lines of investigation show that we cannot give an unequivocal answer to this question. First, five potentially humane methods of poultry slaughter are examined. Electrical stunning is found to be an acceptable method of rendering birds unconscious before slaughter. However, we lack sufficient evidence to claim that it is the most humane method currently available. Second, surveys of poultry processing plants show that, with alarming frequency, a proper stun is not achieved. An investigation of the complexity of the electrical stun process shows the difficulties involved and suggests that under many on-the-floor slaughterhouse conditions, consistently proper stunning is likely to remain unachievable. Finally, the call to overcome inconsistent stun results by increasing current flow to levels that electrocute birds is investigated. Controversy surrounding the impact of electrocution on carcass quality and operator safety will continue to cause resistance to the adoption of this method of poultry slaughter. The conclusion offers four recommendations that follow from the cumulative results of these investigations.     

Sustainable Development and Strategic Thinking

From an economic point of view, the industrial economy is efficient to overcome situations of a scarcity of goods. From a technological point of view, the resource efficiency of the manufacturing processes of the industrial economy has been permanently improved during the last 200 years. In addition, cleaner processes have been developed. However, from an ecologic point of view, an increasing world population with increasing consumption has produced a ＂global footprint＂ which approaches the carrying capacity of the planet. A circular economy and its high-value spin-offs-a lake economy and a performance or functional service economy-can fulfil customers＇ needs with considerably less resource consumption, less environmental impairment in production and considerably less end-of-life product waste, especially in situations of affluence, when a considerable stock of physical goods and infrastructures exists. Also, in situations of a scarcity of natural resources, both energy and materials, often characterised by rapidly rising resource prices, the economic actors of a circular economy have a high competitive advantage over the actors of the industrial economy, due to much lower procurement costs for materials and energy. From a social point of view, a circular economy increases the number of skilled jobs in regional enterprises. However, the shift from a linear manufacturing economy to a circular or service economy means a change in economic thinking from flow （throughput） management to stock （asset） management： in a manufacturing economy with largely unsaturated markets, total wealth increases through accumulation as resource throughput （flow） is transformed into a higher stock of goods of better quality （but in a manufacturing economy with largely saturated markets, wealth represented by the stock of goods will no longer increase）; in a circular or service economy, total wealth increases through a smart management of existing physical assets （stock） that are adapted to changes in both technology and customer demand. This second approach not only applies to physical capital but equally to social capital, such as health and education and green GDP. To measure the social wealth of a population, it is not the amount of money spent on schools and hospitals that matters, butif this expenditure has led to a better education of the students, and a better health of the people.     

Potential for carbon sequestration in Canadian forests and agroecosystems

The potential for carbon (C) sequestration was examined in selectedCanadian forest settings and prairie agroecosystems under severalmanagement scenarios. A simple C budget model was developed toquantitatively examine C sequestration potential in living biomass of forestecosystems, in associated forest-product C pools, and in displaced fossil-fuelC. A review of previous studies was conducted to examine C sequestrationpotential in prairie agroecosystems. In the forest settings examined, ourwork suggests that substantial C sequestration opportunities can be realizedin the short term through the establishment of protected forest-C reserves.Where stands can be effectively protected from natural disturbance, peaklevels of biomass C storage can exceed that under alternative managementstrategies for 200 years or more. In settings where it is not feasible tomaintain protected forest-C reserves, C sequestration opportunities can berealized through maximum sustained yield management with harvestedbiomass put towards the displacement of fossil fuels. Because there is afinite capacity for C storage in protected forest-C reserves, harvesting forestbiomass and using it to displace the use of fossil fuels, either directlythrough the production of biofuels or indirectly through the production oflong-lived forest products that displace the use of energy-intensive materialssuch as steel or concrete, can provide the greatest opportunity to mitigategreenhouse gas emissions in the long term. In Canadian prairieagroecosystems, modest C sequestration can be realized while enhancingsoil fertility and improving the efficiency of crop production. This can bedone in situations where soil organic C can be enhanced without relianceupon ongoing inputs of nitrogen fertilizer, or where the use of fossil fuelsin agriculture can be reduced. More substantial C offsets can be generatedthrough the production of dedicated energy crops to displace the use offossil fuels. Where afforestation or reconstruction of native prairieecosystems on previously cultivated land is possible, this represents thegreatest opportunity to sequester C on a per unit-area basis. However,these last two strategies involve the removal of land from crop production,and so they are not applicable on as wide a scale as some other Csequestration options which only involve modifications to currentagricultural practices.     

Protein that makes sense in the Argentine ant

With a protein-based approach, we have identified and cloned the cDNA encoding a chemosensory protein (LhumCSP) in the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile. The open reading frame of the cloned cDNA encoded a signal peptide (20 residues), and a mature protein (pI 4.62) of 106 amino acid residues. The calculated molecular mass (12,453 Da) was in agreement with the molecular mass measured by on-line chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (12,448 Da), given the formation of two disulfide bridges. LhumCSP shared sequence similarity with various CSPs, particularly those identified and/or cloned from moth species. Also, LhumCSP showed the hallmark of the chemosensory proteins, i.e., four well conserved cysteine residues. The antennal protein was not detected in non-olfactory tissues (leg and thorax) contrary to a putative pheromone-binding protein isolated from the thorax of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. In addition, these findings suggest that, as in Orthopterans and Phasmids, the protein that makes sense in the Argentine ant is not an odorant-binding protein, but rather a chemosensory protein.     

Non-random nectar unloading interactions between foragers and their receivers in the honeybee hive

Nectar acquisition in the honeybee Apis mellifera is a partitioned task in which foragers gather nectar and bring it to the hive, where nest mates unload via trophallaxis (i.e. mouth-to-mouth transfer) the collected food for further storage. Because forager mates exploit different feeding places simultaneously, this study addresses the question of whether nectar unloading interactions between foragers and hive-bees are established randomly, as it is commonly assumed. Two groups of foragers were trained to exploit a different scented food source for 5 days. We recorded their trophallaxes with hive-mates, marking the latter ones according to the forager group they were unloading. We found non-random probabilities for the occurrence of trophallaxes between experimental foragers and hive-bees, instead, we found that trophallactic interactions were more likely to involve groups of individuals which had formerly interacted orally. We propose that olfactory cues present in the transferred nectar promoted the observed bias, and we discuss this bias in the context of the organization of nectar acquisition: a partitioned task carried out in a decentralized insect society.