Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practices of animal handlers on arrival at abattoir and preslaughter welfare of pigs in selected districts in Central Region, Uganda 

Year: 2023

Loku Moses Samuel 
Makerere University, Uganda 

Supervisors: Dr Dickson Stuart Tayebwa & Dr George Samuel Okech 

HSA Student/Trainee Scholarship 2023 

Over the last 30 years, the pig population in Uganda has grown from 0.19 million to 4.47 million pigs, involving 1.34 million households. This increase of animal livestock is accompanied by growing concerns about pig welfare. Pigs are kept in stressful environments on different farms which affects their general health and physical well-being and limits some of their liberties. One of the factors influencing the low quality of pork is the pigs’ health, which is negatively impacted by poor pig welfare concerns. A cross-sectional study was conducted in four abattoirs of Wambizzi, Kitezi, Budo, and Entebbe found in three selected districts in the central region of Uganda to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of animal handlers towards pigs on arrival at the abattoirs. A checklist and questionnaire based on the Five Freedoms was completed by the abattoir personnel, traders, transporters, and farmers. Out of the 120 respondents, 44 (37%) had heard about animal welfare a few times whereas 20 (17%) of respondents claim they have never heard about welfare of animals. Of the respondents 38 (32%) were not sure whether or not pigs kept above 5 hours are fed while 2 (1.7%) said it was not important to give pigs water. In conclusion, in this study, there was a clear sign of poor animal welfare practices at the various abattoirs (p<0.0455) due to a negative interaction between human-animal and high percentage of agitation among pigs at the presence of humans. Poor animal welfare standard practices were noted throughout the entire livestock production chain, from farms to abattoirs. Improvements need to be implemented to measure and assess the animal welfare in order to improve the animal welfare standards in Uganda along the entire livestock production chain.