BARBACOA PRODUCERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ANIMAL WELL-BEING AND ADEQUATE SLAUGHTERING PRACTICES IN SLAUGHTERHOUSES AND THE MUNICIPAL ABATTOIR IN CAPULHUAC DE MIRAFUENTES, MEXICO

Abstract

This work examines the importance of the perception of good practices in the slaughtering and management of sheep in Capulhuac, State of Mexico, in terms of animal well-being, meat quality, and food security. Meat contamination can originate in slaughterhouses due to inadequate facilities, poor personnel practices, and inefficient maturation times. These factors produce stress in the animals, affecting the sensory characteristics of the meat (texture, color, and water retention) due to biochemical alterations, such as abnormal post-mortem pH levels. Therefore, the main actors of the sheep meat production chain (slaughterers and barbacoa producers) were interviewed. The information was evaluated using a discriminant analysis, a principal components factorial analysis, and a cluster analysis to characterize and cluster the perceptions. The results indicate that interviewees consider management before and after slaughtering and animal well-being as critical factors, relating these aspects to the quality of the meat. In addition, they consider that the education of operators in animal welfare is fundamental, along with the promotion of practices that ensure suitable living conditions for animals, such as adequate diets, freedom to move, and a lack of stress. Animal welfare affects the final product’s quality and reflects an ethical commitment in production. Likewise, the need to improve slaughterhouse working conditions, such as implementing regulations that ensure humane treatment for animals during their raising and slaughter, is highlighted. This is critical to maintaining the competitiveness of the meat produced and meeting consumers’ growing expectations for sustainable and ethically obtained products.