Last February, I shared with you that AASV had received funding form the US Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service through their National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program.1 The objectives of the project were to gather information about experiences with swine depopulation, develop swine-specific recommendations for practical on-farm implementation of depopulation methods, and create supplemental resources to assist swine veterinarians and farmers before, during, and after a depopulation event occurs. Over the past 12 months, the depopulation subcommittee of the AASV Pig Welfare Committee has worked to accomplish these objectives.
The subcommittee began by soliciting input using a web survey and telephone interview of 24 participants. Their responses and feedback offered a wealth of information related to the setup, implementation, and efficacy of various swine depopulation methods. The subcommittee used these responses to develop the AASV Recommendations for the Depopulation of Swine, which defines depopulation and conditions for its use, factors that must be considered when choosing a depopulation method, and suggestions for how to prepare and care for responders before, during, and after a depopulation event. Additionally, the depopulation recommendations address procedures, labor and throughput estimates, safety considerations, seasonality impacts, carcass disposal restrictions, setup configurations, and needed resources for 12 depopulation methods. Members of AASV had the opportunity to comment on a draft version and their input was incorporated into a final version, which was adopted by the AASV Board of Directors during their Fall 2021 meeting.
Supplemental resources created to accompany the depopulation recommendations include a depopulation decision tool, depopulation method case studies, carbon dioxide calculator, recordkeeping form, and literature reference lists. The decision tool is designed to guide users through the decision-making process of when to depopulate and documenting which method they may choose to use given the farm resources and situation. The depopulation method case studies provide successful examples of depopulation method configurations. The carbon dioxide calculator allows users to input number of pigs, container sizes, and time constraints to calculate throughput and quantity of carbon dioxide needed.
Also, a resiliency debrief tool has been created in collaboration with Dr Elizabeth Strand, a licensed clinical social worker, resiliency coach, and Founding Director of Veterinary Social Work at the University of Tennessee. The tool was developed to aid veterinary professionals in monitoring and taking action to address psychological impacts of depopulation during or after the depopulation event. This tool will be beta tested in 2022 with key learnings incorporated to improve the tool where appropriate.
The AASV Recommendations for the Depopulation of Swine and the other supplemental resources can be found at aasv.org/resources/welfare. I would like to acknowledge the many people who contributed to the creation of these resources. To those that responded to the survey and interview request, thank you for openly sharing your experiences and insights on this difficult topic. Thank you to the AASV members who took the time to review the draft recommendations and offer feedback for how to improve them. Thank you to those who served on the subcommittee and worked to synthesize survey responses and scientific literature to create useful depopulation resources for veterinarians and their clients. Finally, a big thank you to our AASV summer intern, Kamryn Gitchell. Kamryn is a third-year veterinary student at the University of Tennessee and did much of the work to review and analyze the interview transcripts and helped create the resulting resources.
Reference
*1. Webb S. Sharing your experience [Editorial]. J Swine Health Prod. 2021;29(2):109.
* Non-refereed reference.
Sherrie Webb, MSc
Director of Swine Welfare