October 13, 2008

Two newly developed anesthesia devices using a mixture of CO2 and O2 are safe for use on newborn piglets prior to castration, according to researchers from the Animal Sciences Group at the Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR).

Experiment results showed that piglets ranging from three to eight days of age could be safety exposed to a mixture of 70 percent CO2 and 30 percent of O2 for two minutes, the researchers said in a report.

The report also concludes that the devices meet the technical and practical criteria formulated by researchers and pig farmers, and the devices are expected to integrate effectively into Dutch husbandry practice.

Under a nationwide agreement, no Dutch supermarket will sell meat from piglets that have been castrated without anesthesia as of March 1, which pushes for the need for piglet anesthesia in the Netherlands.