Exsanguination

Exsanguination, the process of cutting major blood vessels and letting blood out of an animal, is used to complete the slaughter process. Although exsanguination is aimed at killing the animal, with certain stunning methods such as electrical head-to-body stunning (also known as cardiac arrest stunning), bleed out occurs at the time of death. Blood is also let out of the carcass to improve meat quality and food safety. Severance of tissues and blood vessels is carried out using knives of different types, depending on techniques and tradition. Two exsanguination methods are commonly used in slaughterhouses: neck and chest sticking. The rates of blood loss after slaughter in various species are found to be similar. However, anatomical differences between species and other factors can result in delayed onset of unconsciousness following slaughter without stunning. Comparison of slaughter with or without stunning in cattle and sheep failed to show significant differences in terms of rate of bleeding and total blood loss.