September 22,
2016 was a momentous day in the history of the Philippine Cold Chain
Project. The morning was spent at the
ribbon cutting for the now well-equipped municipal slaughterhouse in Buenavista.
The new slaughterhouse is located just a few kilometers west of Butuan City.
When PCCP
started working on slaughter house development, we made the rounds visiting
local mayors that requested some assistance and wanted to collaborate. The problem faced here in the Philippines is
that each mayor and local government unit has the responsibility to deal with
issues of public health and sanitation in their municipalities. Part of this responsibility includes
enforcement of rules and regulations regarding the slaughter of animals and
assurance that this process is done in a humane and clean fashion. Backyard slaughtering in the town is not
legal and should be done in a slaughter house.
After
evaluating the situation in Buena Vista, PCCP found out that it was not unlike
most other municipalities that we visited.
First of all, the mayor, his engineer and local staff involved with the
public market and slaughter house did not possess an in-depth knowledge on how
to make a new slaughter house work. The
existing slaughter house, located a short distance from the wet market could be
described as a black cement slab and table with a cast iron tub for scalding
pigs. All slaughtering was done on the
floor of this totally inadequate facility.
To promote change and improvements, the LGU had built a new “slaughter”
house in another location. We inspected the existing place where animals were
butchered and, afterwards, visited the newly-built structure where the
slaughtering will be done. On touring this new facility, it had the rudimentary
design features of a pig and cattle slaughter facility. However, the overall materials used showed
that the contractor was familiar with building houses but not building
slaughter facilities. The floor tiles, drainage
system, water system, roof, entrances for people and animals were mostly done
incorrectly, if not all!
PCCP staff
then proceeded to work with the LGU and mayor’s office to redesign the new
facility. There were necessary design changes to turn it into a working
facility. The project had been able to
locate an excellent contractor based out of Manila who specializes in slaughter
plant construction. This contractor had
been able to take measurements, prefabricate equipment and deliver it to the
site. The construction team lived on site until the installation was completed. They also worked with the LGU to initiate
necessary design changes and improvements.
PCCP
discovered, as well, that plans developed by the National Meat Inspection
Service (NMIS) for small scale slaughter facilities have not been adequately
vetted. One problem with these NMIS
plans is in the design of the chute for the pigs when entering the plant. PCCP changed this design to be just wide
enough for the pig to walk in and also walls should be made of hollow block and
not rails. The ramp should also be on a
gradual angle and not difficult for the animal to walk up. In this way, stress on the livestock and
handler is minimized.
The
Philippines has good law on the books that mandates humane treatment of
animals. A properly designed facility
should assure that the animal’s welfare is a primary concern. We work with NMIS provincial unit to help
raise awareness about what is illegal. “Zorro”
marking where the pig is marked with a razor blade on its hide for
identification purposes should be stopped.
Stunning the pig with ineffective means that end up torturing the animal
should be stopped as well. In PCCP-assisted
facilities, a stunner is installed. After
the pig walks up to the slaughter house, it is held in a specially designed
chute. The butcher rinses off the pig
and then uses the stunner. The stunner
is a “y” shaped device that is placed behind the pig’s ears on its neck. A foot pedal is used to start and stop and
electric charge which stuns the pig to the point of unconsciousness. There is no noise if this device is used
correctly. The chute then has a swinging
door which allows easy access to the now stunned pig. The pig then is “stuck” so that the blood
drains and is caught in a sanitary container.
Pig blood is a very popular cooking ingredient here in the Philippines
so it is saved. Once this process is
complete, the carcass is placed in the scalding tank. This tank has been designed in such a way
that it is easy to maintain the water at a scalding temperature without the
presence of smoke from the fire in the slaughter house. Above this tank there is an electric
winch. This winch, along with a
stainless steel gambrel is used to pull the carcass out of the scalding tank in
a way that keeps the butcher safe from the hot water and also helps him to
avoid heavy lifting. The carcass is now
placed on a stainless table where it is scraped of all its hair. People here like to have their pork with
“skin on” unlike in the United States where the skin is usually removed. Once scraped the gambrel is attached to a
hook and this hook is on a roller which is placed on a rail. This makes for easy movement of the carcass. At this stage, the butchers may choose to
“flame” the carcass as well which entails using a blow torch to burn of any
remaining hair or fuzz on the skin. The
carcass is now open and the entrails are placed in a stainless container. These entrails and the carcass are examined
by the local LGU meat inspector. The entrails
are passed through an opening to a “dirty” area where they are further
processed. The butchers, who are wearing
boots, aprons, hair net and face mask continue their work while standing on an
elevated metal platform. Once everything
is clean and sorted, the carcass can be weighed, bagged in plastic or chilled
(if a cooler is available). At the end
of the rail, the carcass is then transferred to a meat van and taken to the
local market where the meat vendor cuts the carcass up in appropriate meat
cuts.
The butchers
have to wear proper equipment including rubber boots and pass through a foot
bath and hand wash before they can start to work. They should also have available a rest area
and bathroom facility on site and be trained in proper procedures and
sanitation techniques. A knife dip
should be used regularly to keep knives clean and sanitary. Also the work areas should be kept
clean. In order to facilitate this, the
proper design includes overhead water piping with hoses and pressure nozzles
available in properly spaced intervals.
Outside the facility, there should be a wall with a gate, a cement
“apron” around the slaughter house, and adequate water holding and water
treatment facilities to handle the large amount of waste water generated by the
facility.
In
the case of Buenavista, there was a very nice ribbon cutting ceremony attended
by all barangay captains and also members of the mayor’s management committee
or SB. The facility was properly blessed
by the local priest and speeches were given.
This was followed by a typical meal that included roast pig. The best part for me however was being able
to see a project though to implementation.
It took longer than we expected but, in the end, PCCP and the LGU were
able to come together and surmount all difficulties faced. There is more to do at the new facility,
including installation of a cattle line, cementing for the lot outside and putting
up a wall and gate. Still, Buenavista
can now take pride of their 'AA' slaughter house facility where things are being
done properly without any “on-floor” butchering and reduced stress for the pigs
and people involved.