Every year, around 1,500 animal welfare information is sent to the county administrative boards.

These are cases where the National Food Administration's veterinarian has found injuries or remarks on the animals that may indicate deficiencies in the animal welfare of the keeper or carrier.

Transport damage

These are, for example, damages caused by animals being transported at too low a ceiling height.

During an animal welfare inspection at Skövde slaughterhouse in 2020, the veterinarian discovered a steer with fresh back injuries.

“A superficial abrasion in the middle of the back over the spine about 10 cm long and 2 cm wide and smaller, slightly deeper abrasions further back on the lower back.

The appearance and location of the injury was compatible with the type of injuries that occur when cattle are transported or stand / walk in stable areas with too low a ceiling height, ”the veterinarian writes.

In 2020, 20 pigs with bleeding on the front thighs also arrived at Skövde slaughterhouse.

The information sent to the County Administrative Board in Östergötland states that the damage was probably caused during transport.

"After a conversation with the carrier, it was revealed that when loading on transport, there was a gap in the floor at the loading space where he saw several pigs stepping down far with their legs," writes the veterinarian at the slaughterhouse.

Tail-bitten pigs

If the pigs are kept in an unemployed environment, tail biting can occur.

When the pigs fail to perform their natural behavior, there is an increased risk that they will start biting each other's tails.

Damage occurs, which can become inflamed.

When the tail is connected to the spine, infections can form along the spine, which causes abscesses.

The nervous system also runs in the spine, which means that it becomes very painful.

An information after inspecting a pig states the following: “Had a severe, unhealed tail injury.

The tail was red and swollen and the wound - which was open and covered about 4 cm of the lower part of the tail - was necrotic, ie skin and underlying tissue had died ", writes the veterinarian.

Last year, ten pigs with tail injuries in various forms arrived at Ugglarp's slaughterhouse.

“Some of them 10 slaughter pigs had healed tail injuries with short tails, and some had tail injuries with running secretions.

The tail injury in a slaughter pig of them was in the form of an open inflamed wound ", writes the veterinarian who did the inspection.

Overgrown hooves

The hooves of the animals need to be cut if they do not wear down naturally.

On deep litter beds, the hooves do not tend to wear down and when they become too long, the joints and movement of the animals are affected.

A veterinarian at a slaughterhouse describes the overgrown hooves of a bull:

“The hooves had started to grow upwards and the hoof halves on top of each other.

On the front legs, the bull had started to push the weight backwards on the hooves, which gives an increased load on the joints and ligaments as the joint angles change.

The bull walked carefully and slightly staggered when moving. "

For the scan, another veterinarian writes about a bull with overgrown hooves:

“The hooves were so long that it affected the bull's movement pattern and leg position.

Failure or incorrect hoof care causes unnecessary pain for the animals. ”

Contaminated animals

Contaminated animals are divided into different scales, depending on the amount of dirt.

If an animal is really dirty, manure tanks are formed.

This means that the manure has been given the opportunity to accumulate on the animal for a longer period of time, it is created through layer upon layer.

It becomes almost impossible to slaughter such a body hygienically.

The armor also makes it difficult for the animal to move, it is heavy and can pull on the animal's fur.

It can cause burns, inflammation of the skin.

The animals also have a harder time keeping warm, as the fur cannot dry in a normal way.

A veterinarian describes his inspection of 14 animals, cattle that were manure-contaminated:

The contaminants are mainly localized to the underside and midline of the chest and abdomen, thighs and front knees.

The contaminants were dried and were judged to have built up over a long period of time based on their extent and appearance ", writes the veterinarian.

Another veterinarian writes to the county administrative board after 21 lambs were contaminated with older manure:

The fur on these was heavily contaminated, the animals were felted by ingrained dirt / manure on the buttocks.

There were widespread areas with manure pans on the buttocks and abdomen / chest.

In addition to being a food hygiene problem, manure contamination is to this extent an animal welfare problem as it can cause itching, eczema and manure burns ", writes the veterinarian.

Highly pregnant animals

The limit for cattle is 28 days.

The animals must therefore not be transported closer than 28 days before calving.

As the animals approach calving, the pelvic joints loosen and the cow becomes unstable, making it difficult for the cow to maintain balance during transport.

Each transport involves stress for the animal, which can also trigger a premature calving.

A veterinary inspector writes like this when he inspected three pregnant heifers at a slaughterhouse:

The cows each carried their own large brown calf of the meat breed type.

The length of the calves from the top of the head to the root of the tail was measured at 98 cm, 108 cm and 112 cm.

The weight of the calves was 34 kg, 40 kg resp.

44 kg.

The diameter of the placenta was around 9 cm, some measured 8 cm, some measured 14 cm in diameter.

All calves had a fully developed coat. ”

Another veterinarian writes in a case concerning a heifer:

The fetus had open teeth and was fully haired with normal calf fur. The veterinary assessment of these findings is that it cannot be ruled out that the cow had less than 28 days to the estimated calving. "