The individual pain or suffering caused by disease, injury or an inability to survive requires timely action. These fact-of-life occurrences have been recognized by generations of pork producers, but cultural change now calls for euthanasia standards that extend beyond one's definition of what is right or wrong, explains C. Scanlon Daniels, DVM, Circle H Headquarters, LLC, Dalhart, TX, during a Pork Academy talk during World Pork Expo in early June.

Values and Ethics

The most productive discussions about euthanasia begin with values, which are an outgrowth of peoples' backgrounds and beliefs. “We need to recognize individual values as we interact with the stakeholders. We're probably not going to win arguments (about euthanasia) based on technical details,” he emphasizes.

In addition to individual values, discussions must also include family values, values of employees and coworkers, consumer and customer values, and societal values.

“Ethics are the systemization and application of one's values — a compilation of one's values,” he continues. Ethics fall into several categories — traditional, religious, popular and legal.

A pork producer's traditional ethics might be expressed as: “I take care of my pigs and my pigs take care of me. In other words, as we provide a good environment for the pigs and care for them, they will perform well, and we will economically benefit,” Daniels notes.

Religious ethics, stated simply, is a God-given directive that we have control over animals.

Popular ethics, which is what the majority of people value, has gained more influence in recent years.

Legal ethics, often the result of popular ethics, is where people vote and the outcome defines what is ethical. A good example of popular ethics transformed into legal ethics is an initiative to ban gestation stalls in several states.

Problems and Opportunities

“With euthanasia, there are commonly two issues — ‘when bad becomes normal,’ and, using a play on words, ‘when normal becomes bad,’” Daniels says.

He attributes the “when bad becomes normal” view to livestock behavior expert and best-selling author Temple Grandin at Colorado State University, and notes that it usually accompanies improper training and a lack of accountability. “What is on paper and good in concept ends up not being implemented well over time, and poor processes become the standard,” Daniels explains.

An example is a poorly maintained captive bolt gun that does not function properly. Although the captive bolt gun is an accepted, standard operating procedure for euthanizing an animal, the end result may be unacceptable due to poor maintenance. This situation is compounded when a farm or system has a high turnover rate and operational and maintenance training lapses.

“Usually training or accountability is the root cause of ‘when bad becomes normal,’” he says. “The best way to control or avoid ‘when bad becomes normal’ is to have good auditing and assessment programs in place, and follow-through with corrective actions.” Often these audits are conducted by Pork Quality Assurance Plus advisors, often swine veterinarians.

“‘When normal becomes bad’ is illustrated by what has historically been normal practice but, through popular ethics, might no longer be supported by society,” Daniels says.

“It's clear to me that society's view of agriculture is changing, which will create different expectations. As veterinarians and leaders in the pork industry, we need to help pork producers understand this cultural change. If you look in the rearview mirror, we've been right in the euthanasia methods we've used, but because ‘normal has become bad,’ we need to help communicate and educate producers and the people who work on our farms about societal views (on euthanasia methods),” he continues.

“When I train people in that light, it's not that what we have been doing is bad. We don't get into a debate of what's right or wrong. We should recognize that individual values are driving the perception. If you put it in the context that society and the popular ethic has the same kind of influence they've had in the past, that usually helps promote a dialogue in a more positive direction, and it avoids the debate about right or wrong.”

Employee Attitudes

Daniels cites the results of a North Carolina State University survey conducted in 2004 (“Employee Attitudes and Perceptions Regarding Swine Euthanasia”) to reinforce that employee attitudes were influenced by a combination of the employee's attitude about euthanasia and their willingness to do it.

Researchers identified several different socio-demographic factors, such as ethnicity, gender, education, age and language, and socio-psychological factors, such as temperament, type and stress. Farm factors, such as the areas employees worked in, the size or stage of pigs they work with and the type of training they received likewise play a role.

Continue on Page 2: Euthanasia Decision Tree