Welfare of horses during on-farm killing for purposes other than slaughter

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Disclaimer

This Plain Language Summary (PLS) is a simplified communication of EFSA's Welfare of horses during on-farm killing. The full scientific report can be found here.

The purpose of the PLS is to enhance transparency and inform interested parties on EFSA’s work on the topic using simplified language to present a summary of the main findings.

Background to the scientific opinion

  • There are various possible reasons for the killing of horses outside of slaughterhouses. These include euthanising individual animals that are either diseased or considered an economic burden as well as large-scale culling for disease control, managing environmental contamination and responding to disasters. 
  • To protect animals, the EU adopted Council Regulation (EC) No. 1099/2009 ‘on the protection of animals at the time of killing’. This regulation was based on the EFSA scientific opinions issued in 2004 and 2006. EFSA also provided opinions on this topic in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017.
  • The current opinion provides an update on EFSA’s previous opinions, focusing on the latest scientific research related to the on-farm killing of horses. 

What was EFSA asked to do?

The European Commission asked EFSA to provide an independent scientific opinion on the on-farm killing of horses, to include:

  • identifying potential welfare hazards and their causes, such as farm conditions, equipment and staff practices;
  • defining ways to measure animal welfare (’animal-based measures’);
  • suggesting ways to prevent and address identified hazards, including facility and management changes;
  • specifying hazards related to different horse breeds;
  • identifying unacceptable killing methods or practices and analysing their impact on animal welfare.

How did EFSA carry out this work?

EFSA carried out the task by:

  • reviewing the scientific literature from 2004 to 2024, including its own previous work; 
  • drawing on expert knowledge (mainly EFSA’s expert group discussions on welfare, ’animal-based measures’, hazards and preventive and corrective measures); 
  • consulting other reliable information sources (references from review papers, book chapters and relevant non-peer-reviewed articles).

What were the outcomes and their implications?

The methods for the on-farm killing of horses identified and assessed are captive bolt stunning, firearm and lethal injection.

Two phases were distinguished: 

  • Pre-killing: handling, moving and restraining horses before killing;
  • Killing: stunning and subsequently killing horses (for methods like captive bolt stunning or lethal injection that kill in two steps) or direct killing (for methods like a firearm with a free projectile that kills in one step).

The welfare consequences resulting from the hazards identified in each phase were:

  • Pre-killing(handling, moving and restraining): movement restriction, handling stress and injuries;
  • Killing(stunning and killing): injuries, pain and fear horses experience due to being conscious or alive.

The findings suggest that enhancing horse welfare during on-farm killing requires careful attention to handling, restraint and killing methods.

What were the uncertainties?

The main sources of uncertainty relate to:

  • High variability between practices: Killing practices vary greatly across different parts of the world. This means that findings of one study may not apply to other regions or countries;
  • Study design limitations: Many existing studies are small-scale, cross-sectional (snapshot information) and have not fully accounted for all the potential factors that could influence the results. Additionally, the methods used to collect and analyse data often vary, making it difficult to compare findings across studies;
  • Uncertainty in conclusions: The level of certainty of key findings that could potentially influence regulations was carefully evaluated.

What are the key recommendations?

Key recommendations to enhance horse welfare and reduce hazards for policymakers and farmers are:

  • Pre-killing:
    • Handling stress: Reduce stress by moving unhandled horses and semi-feral animals in groups without halters or ropes. Lead individually handled horses to the killing area with halters and ropes to minimise stress. If a horse is hesitant, use a companion horse to encourage it to move;
    • Restriction of movement when handling stress and injuries: Use minimal force and an appropriately sized restraining device to prevent movement (backward, forward or turning). Only start restraining the horse when the operator is ready to stun it and keep the restraint time as short as possible.
  • Killing methods:
    • Penetrative captive bolt stunning (two-step process): First, stun the horse with a captive bolt device, ensuring the bolt meets specific standards (minimum speed: 55 m/s, diameter: 9 mm, length: 8 cm, penetration depth: 7 cm). (More research is needed to validate these parameters for all horse breeds.) Follow up with a method to induce death, such as bleeding, pithing (brain destruction) or a lethal injection;
    • Firearm with free projectile (one-step process): Use a single shot aimed just above the intersection of two imaginary lines, each drawn from the centre of the eye to the centre of the base of the opposite ear. Aim toward the brainstem to ensure instant death;
    • Lethal injection (two-step process): First, sedate or anesthetise the horse to ensure it is calm. Then, inject a lethal substance.
  • Confirming unconsciousness and death:
    • Ensure the horse is unconscious after stunning before proceeding to killing.
    • Perform the killing step within 60 seconds of stunning to prevent the horse from regaining consciousness.
    • Immediately re-stun or kill the horse if it shows signs of recovery using an appropriate method such as adjusting the shot's position or direction. 
    • Ensure the horse is dead before disposing of the carcass.
    • Immediately repeat the killing method if signs of life persist.
    • Refer to the flowchart of ‘animal-based measures’ in the scientific opinion for directions on monitoring a horse’s state of consciousness.
  • Unacceptable practices: 
    • Avoid highly painful practices (e.g. moving severely injured horses or those unable to move independently).

Reference

Welfare of horses during on-farm killing for purposes other than slaughter  
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9195