Belgian consumers’ attitude towards surgical castration and immunocastration of piglets

Abstract

In the vast majority of European countries, piglets are surgically castrated in order to eliminate the risk of boar taint, an odour or flavour that can be present when pork from entire males is cooked. However, surgical castration is the subject of much debate and criticism as a result of its negative implications for piglets’ welfare, integrity and health. At present, there is much ongoing research into potential alternatives, among them immunocastration. This practice involves the injection of a vaccine that inhibits the production of the hormones responsible for boar taint. Although satisfactory results are associated with immunocastration in terms of meat quality and production parameters, uncertainty concerning consumer acceptance is often put forward as a key element in the quest for a successful market introduction. This study focuses on consumer awareness of piglet castration and attitudes towards immunocastration by means of a web-based questionnaire among 225 Flemish consumers. We noted approximately 40% awareness of the routine practice of castrating piglets and this limited awareness is accompanied by a moderate level of concern regarding castration, especially in comparison to food safety and other pork production system-related animal welfare issues. Sixty percent of the sample had a general appreciation for the concept of immunocastration, as opposed to surgical castration. Informing consumers about the potential benefits and/or risks from immunocastration did not tend to have much effect in terms of altering their attitudes. Immunocastration did not emerge as a problem in terms of consumer acceptance: special attention should be paid to consumers’ perception of pricing, food safety and the taste of the meat from immunocastrated pigs.

Public and industry knowledge and perceptions of US swine industry castration practices

“…Additionally, their survey indicated that 60% of Norwegian consumers were unaware of the practice (Fredriksen et al 2011 ). Similarly, a Belgian survey showed that 51% of respondents were unaware that male piglets are castrated (Vanhonacker et al 2009 ). In that study, participants were recruited through non-probability snowball-sampling, and they completed the survey online.…”

“…Facebook and swine industry contacts as well as university staff were invited to share the survey with others, including farm owners, operators, technicians and veterinarians. This method of non-probability snowball-sampling involves initial contact persons being asked to complete the survey together with the request to forward it to acquaintances, similar to Vanhonacker et al ( 2009 ). A limitation with this is that non-probability sampling methods often result in biased samples that limit generalisability (Blair & Blair 2015 ).…”

“…Immunocastration is reportedly used on 3% of all males in the European Union (De Briyne et al 2016 ) and has been the sole form of castration in New Zealand and Australia since 1998 (AVMA Welfare Division 2013 ). Surgical castration with anaesthesia is already used in The Netherlands, Germany, Norway and Switzerland (Vanhonacker et al 2009 ) while another alternative would be to raise entire males and slaughter at a prepubertal weight (prior to seven months of age) as is the case in the Republic of Ireland, Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom (De Briyne et al 2016 ). However, with the US being the third largest consumer, and one of the largest exporters of pork in the world (United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service [USDA ERS] 2019), this could present financial and logistical challenges within the supply chain.…”

“…The public is generally unaware of animal husbandry (Alonso et al 2020 ) and castration practices. Only 40% of consumers in Flanders, Belgium were aware of current castration practices in Belgium (Vanhonacker et al 2009 ) while Brazilian citizens were unaware of castration of male pigs and the relationship between boar taint in pork and castration practices (Yunes et al 2019 ; Hötzel et al. 2020 ).…”