Abstract: Stunning of animals to be slaughtered at slaughterhouses takes place by exposing the animals for a sufficiently long period of time to an anaesthetic atmosphere, such as an atmosphere of carbon dioxide. A number of animals is first driven into a transport box (2b) which has been placed in a filling area at the slaughterhouse. Then a filled box is transported to a waiting area for boxes (2c), and from this waiting area a box is taken when needed and led through a stunning area (3) filled with the anaesthetic atmosphere, such as an oblong pit with room for 2-15 boxes (2d), which are led in one after another. The boxes (2f) with stunned animals are emptied of animals to be slaughtered, which are chained, whereas the empty boxes (2a) are returned to the filling area for renewed use. The removal of a box (2c) from the waiting area and the supply to the stunning area (3) are controlled by the current slaughtering speed and the number of boxes (2d) in the stunning area.

Abstract: Animals such as pigs which are to be slaughtered at slaughterhouses are unloaded from the transport truck and driven into pens and stalled in these for some time, until they are driven out of the pens and over to a stunning apparatus. The pigs of a supplied lot to the slaughterhouse, or part of the supplied lot, are treated as a separate unit during one or more of the above-mentioned stages of treatment, which means that pigs of a unit are to be constantly kept separated from pigs belonging to other units. Each unit may comprise e.g. 15 pigs. The treatment of the animals in units reduces their aggressions, and their well-being is increased, which will result in a lower incidence of rind damages, blood splashings and deviant meat quality of the carcasses. A system for stalling of the pigs includes a number of oblong pens (1), which are placed next to each other. Each of the pens has an entrance gate (6), an exit gate (8) and a driving gate (10) which is movable in the longitudinal direction of the pen.