Page 180 - Agriculture_Form_Three

Agriculture for Secondary Schools

race. This corridor links the resting yard on the outside and the stunning box on the
inside. A short distance before the stunning box the animal is doused with water to
help electrical conductivity throughout the body when the electric rods are applied.
Sometimes a high velocity bolt is applied on the forehead of the animal immediately
as the animal is secured in the box. The action of the electric shock or that of a high
velocity bolt on the forehead makes the animal unconscious and it falls onto the
slaughter platform attached to the stunning box.

Stage 4: Slaughtering in most places of Tanzania follows the halal procedure, which
involves a quick slitting of the throat to minimise suffering. The procedure also
requires that other animals awaiting their turn for slaughter should not see what
happened to those slaughtered ahead of them. This is achieved by placing dark
plastic curtains behind the stunning box. Once the animal has been slit, it becomes a
carcass that is a dead body ready to be prepared for human consumption.

Stage 5: The carcass is briefly held hanging on top of a bleeding box. It is important
that as much blood as possible is removed from the carcass shortly after slaughter.
Thorough bleeding helps in keeping the carcass fresh for longer time and it improves
the quality of the meat. While bleeding, the head is removed or opening cuts are
made.
Stage 6: Flaying is done while the carcass is hoisted on top rails as shown in Figure
8.4 (b). Flaying is the action of removing the skin from animal’s body. It is important
to avoid puncturing the skin during this exercise.

Stage 7: Removing the pluck. Pluck means the organs found in the thoracic cavity,
that is, heart, lungs and trachea. To remove the pluck, the breast bone is split and the
pluck is pulled away. This will be set aside for inspection by the veterinarian. This
is followed by opening the bowl to remove the remaining internal organs, that is,
stomach, intestine, liver, kidney and spleen. These organs are known as offals. They
are handled separately to avoid contaminating the main carcass.

Stage 8: Splitting the carcass by halving it lengthwise through the spine while
inspection by experts continues. A mark of approval is then stamped on the carcass
sides before the carcass is sent into cold room for holding. The carcass is held in
cold room for 24 - 48 hours before it is released for butchering. However, in most
slaughtering facilities in Tanzania, meat is rarely chilled due to lack of cold facility
and sometimes customers prefer warm meat in the freshly slaughtered state than the
chilled one. Hence, meat is delivered to markets soon after inspection.

Stage 9: Butchering is the last stage. Since the carcass is first quartered into
commercial cuts (for whole sale), butchering is necessary. Butchering is the practice

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