The 20th Anniversary Edition of the North American Meat Institute’s Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines and Audit Guide was released today for download on the Institute’s newly updated and redesigned animal welfare site AnimalHandling.org. The guidelines were authored by Colorado State University Professor of Animal Behavior Temple Grandin, Ph.D., working with the Institute’s Animal Welfare Committee.
The Institute’s audit was originally developed by Grandin in 1997 and its adoption by meat companies helped transform how livestock are handled and processed in meat plants. Grandin premised the concept of an animal welfare audit on the idea that “You manage what you measure.” By measuring objective criteria like animal vocalizations, falls, the use of prods to move animals, effective stunning and other objective criteria, she argued that plants could evaluate their animal handling practices, identify problems and drive continuous improvement. The Institute agreed with her view and invited her to write it.