animals Article Exploratory Survey on European Consumer and Stakeholder Attitudes towards Alternatives for Surgical Castration of Piglets Marijke Aluwé 1, *, Evert Heyrman 1 , João M. Almeida 2 , Jakub Babol 3 , Gianni Battacone 4 , Jaroslav Čítek 5 , Maria Font i Furnols 6 , Andriy Getya 7 , Danijel Karolyi 8 , Eliza Kostyra 9 , Kevin Kress 10 , Goran Kušec 11 , Daniel Mörlein 12 , Anastasia Semenova 13 , Martin Škrlep 14 , Todor Stoyanchev 15 , Igor Tomašević 16 , Liliana Tudoreanu 17 , Maren Van Son 18 , Sylwia Żakowska-Biemans 9 , Galia Zamaratskaia 19 , Alice Van den Broeke 1 and Macarena Egea 20 1 Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), Animal Sciences Unit, 9090 Melle, Belgium; evert.heyrman@ilvo.vlaanderen.be (E.H.); alice.vandenbroeke@ilvo.vlaanderen.be (A.V.d.B.) 2 Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária (INIAV), Quinta da Fonte Boa, 2005-048 Vale de Santarém, Portugal; joaoalmeida@iniav.pt 3 Department of Biomedical Science and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7015, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden; jakub.babol@slu.se 4 Department of Agriculture, University of Sassari, Viale Italia 39, 07100 Sassari, Italy; battacon@uniss.it 5 Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU), Kamycka 129, 16500 Prague, Czech Republic; citek@af.czu.cz 6 Institute for Food and Agriculture Research and Technology (IRTA), Product Quality Program, Finca Camps i Armet, 17121 Monells, Girona, Spain; maria.font@irta.cat 7 Animal Breeding Department, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (NULES), Henerala Rodimtseva 19, 03041 Kyiv, Ukraine; getya@ukr.net 8 Department of Animal
Ewa Tomaszewska
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animals Article Exploratory Survey on European Consumer and Stakeholder Attitudes towards Alternatives for Surgical Castration of Piglets Marijke Aluwé 1, *, Evert Heyrman 1 , João M. Almeida 2 , Jakub Babol 3 , Gianni Battacone 4 , Jaroslav Čítek 5 , Maria Font i Furnols 6 , Andriy Getya 7 , Danijel Karolyi 8 , Eliza Kostyra 9 , Kevin Kress 10 , Goran Kušec 11 , Daniel Mörlein 12 , Anastasia Semenova 13 , Martin Škrlep 14 , Todor Stoyanchev 15 , Igor Tomašević 16 , Liliana Tudoreanu 17 , Maren Van Son 18 , Sylwia Żakowska-Biemans 9 , Galia Zamaratskaia 19 , Alice Van den Broeke 1 and Macarena Egea 20 1 Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), Animal Sciences Unit, 9090 Melle, Belgium; evert.heyrman@ilvo.vlaanderen.be (E.H.); alice.vandenbroeke@ilvo.vlaanderen.be (A.V.d.B.) 2 Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária (INIAV), Quinta da Fonte Boa, 2005-048 Vale de Santarém, Portugal; joaoalmeida@iniav.pt 3 Department of Biomedical Science and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7015, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden; jakub.babol@slu.se 4 Department of Agriculture, University of Sassari, Viale Italia 39, 07100 Sassari, Italy; battacon@uniss.it 5 Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU), Kamycka 129, 16500 Prague, Czech Republic; citek@af.czu.cz 6 Institute for Food and Agriculture Research and Technology (IRTA), Product Quality Program, Finca Camps i Armet, 17121 Monells, Girona, Spain; maria.font@irta.cat 7 Animal Breeding Department, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (NULES), Henerala Rodimtseva 19, 03041 Kyiv, Ukraine; getya@ukr.net 8 Department of Animal
…Ewa Tomaszewska, University of Life intra-experience levels reliability were satisfactory (Little to no: 0.72, Some: 0.81, Extensive: Sciences in Lublin, POLAND 0.84), but inter-experience reliability was lower…
…Ewa Tomaszewska, University of Life intra-experience levels reliability were satisfactory (Little to no: 0.72, Some: 0.81, Extensive: Sciences in Lublin, POLAND 0.84), but inter-experience reliability was lower…
Article Quality of Meat and Fat from Immunocastrated Boars and Uncastrated Boars Slaughtered at Different Body Weights Anna Zalewska 1, * , Marcin Sońta 1, * , Justyna Wi˛ecek 1 , Anna Rekiel 1 , Piotr Cybulski 2 , Iwona Wojtasik-Kalinowska 3 , Andrzej Półtorak 3 , Kamila Puppel 1 and Martyna Batorska 1 1 Department of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Ciszewskiego 8 Street, 02-786 Warsaw, Poland; justyna_wiecek@sggw.edu.pl (J.W.); anna_rekiel@sggw.edu.pl (A.R.); kamila_puppel@sggw.edu.pl (K.P.); martyna_batorska@sggw.edu.pl (M.B.) 2 Goodvalley Agro S.A., Dworcowa 25 Street, 77-320 Przechlewo, Poland; piotr.cybulski@goodvalley.com 3 Department of Technique and Food Product Development, Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska 159c Street, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland; iwona_wojtasik-kalinowska@sggw.edu.pl (I.W.-K.); andrzej_poltorak@sggw.edu.pl (A.P.) * Correspondence: anna_zalewska1@sggw.edu.pl (A.Z.); marcin_sonta1@sggw.edu.pl (M.S.) Simple Summary The abandonment of surgical castration of boars in pork production creates the need to implement alternative solutions that will eliminate boar taint in meat and fat, while preserving their desired physicochemical properties. This study aimed to analyse the quality of meat and fat from immunocastrated boars and uncastrated boars with slaughter weights of 120 and 105 kg. Its results showed that the slaughter of uncastrated boars with a body weight of 120 kg had a beneficial effect on the protein content of their meat. However, the lack of castration resulted in fat quality deterioration. In turn, the immunocastration reduced the content of hormones responsible for the presence of boar taint in meat and fat. Abstract
Article Quality of Meat and Fat from Immunocastrated Boars and Uncastrated Boars Slaughtered at Different Body Weights Anna Zalewska 1, * , Marcin Sońta 1, * , Justyna Wi˛ecek 1 , Anna Rekiel 1 , Piotr Cybulski 2 , Iwona Wojtasik-Kalinowska 3 , Andrzej Półtorak 3 , Kamila Puppel 1 and Martyna Batorska 1 1 Department of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Ciszewskiego 8 Street, 02-786 Warsaw, Poland; justyna_wiecek@sggw.edu.pl (J.W.); anna_rekiel@sggw.edu.pl (A.R.); kamila_puppel@sggw.edu.pl (K.P.); martyna_batorska@sggw.edu.pl (M.B.) 2 Goodvalley Agro S.A., Dworcowa 25 Street, 77-320 Przechlewo, Poland; piotr.cybulski@goodvalley.com 3 Department of Technique and Food Product Development, Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska 159c Street, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland; iwona_wojtasik-kalinowska@sggw.edu.pl (I.W.-K.); andrzej_poltorak@sggw.edu.pl (A.P.) * Correspondence: anna_zalewska1@sggw.edu.pl (A.Z.); marcin_sonta1@sggw.edu.pl (M.S.) Simple Summary The abandonment of surgical castration of boars in pork production creates the need to implement alternative solutions that will eliminate boar taint in meat and fat, while preserving their desired physicochemical properties. This study aimed to analyse the quality of meat and fat from immunocastrated boars and uncastrated boars with slaughter weights of 120 and 105 kg. Its results showed that the slaughter of uncastrated boars with a body weight of 120 kg had a beneficial effect on the protein content of their meat. However, the lack of castration resulted in fat quality deterioration. In turn, the immunocastration reduced the content of hormones responsible for the presence of boar taint in meat and fat. Abstract
son K., Chen G., Norrby M., sumers to consume pork in line with their sensitivity to Madej A., Lundström K. (2011). Early immunocastration of male pig rearing conditions. pigs with Improvac® – Effect on boar taint, hormones and repro- ductive organs. Vaccine, 29: 9514–9520. Burgeon C., Debliquy M., Lahem D., Rodriguez J., Ly A., Fauconnier Acknowledgements M.L. (2021). Past, present, and future trends in boar taint detec- The paper is a part of the PhD thesis of Anna Zalewska. tion. Trends Food Sci. Technol., 112: 283–297. Büttner S., Heidbüchel K., Höinghaus K., Baldinger L., Weissmann F., Disclosures Bussemas R. (2020). Fattening of entire male pigs as an alterna- The authors declare that there is no conflict of inter- tive to piglet castration. Thünen Institut of Organic Farming, 15. Čandek-Potokar M., Batorek-Lukač N. (2015). Alternatives to surgical est. castration of pigs. Bulg. J. Anim. Husb., 52: 41–51. Chen G., Zamaratskaia G., Andersson H.K., Lundström K. (2007). Effects of raw potato starch and live weight on fat and plasma skatole, indole and androstenone levels measured by different References methods in entire male pigs. Food Chem., 101: 439–448. Council Directive 2008/120/EC of 18 December 2008 laying down Aaslyng M.D., Hviid M. (2020). Meat quality in the Danish pig popu- minimum standards for the protection of pigs (codified version). lation anno 2018. Meat Sci., 163. Courboulay V., Hemonic A., Gadonna M., Prunier A. (2010). Castra- Aaslyng M.D., Støier S., Lund B.W., Nielsen D.B. (2019). Slaughter- tion avec anesthésie locale ou traitement anti-inflammatoire: quel ing of entire male pigs seen from the slaughterhouse perspective. impact sur la douleur des porcelets et quelles conséquences sur le IOP Conf. Ser: Earth Environ. Sci.,
Ann. Anim. Sci., Vol. 26 (2026) 201–210 DOI: 10.2478/aoas-2025-0044 SURGICAL CASTRATION OF PIGLETS – CHALLENGES AND ALTERNATIVES – A REVIEW Anna Zalewska♦, Martyna Batorska, Justyna Więcek, Anna Rekiel, Marcin Sońta Department of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Ciszewskiego 8, 02-786 Warsaw, Poland ♦ Corresponding author: anna_zalewska1@sggw.edu.pl Abstract The European Declaration on Alternatives to Surgical Castration of Pigs stipulated that from 2012, surgical castration could only be performed using anesthetics and/or analgesics, and that it would be completely abandoned by 2018. Many Member States disagreed with the conditions set out in the Declaration. The issue of surgical castration arouses serious controversy among consumers due to their con- cerns over animal welfare and rearing conditions. According to the Council Directive 2008/120/EC of 18 December 2008 laying down the minimum standards for the protection of pigs, surgical castration can be performed without anesthesia until the seventh day of a piglet’s life. Castration is considered painful and can have many adverse health and production consequences. Alternatives to surgical castration include immunocastration or the fattening of entire male pigs. However, these methods also evoke many emotions in both consumers and pork producers. The most common concerns relate to the presence of boar taint in pork, and the appearance of aggressive and sexual behavior within herds. Despite ample literature sources from recent decades, it is difficult to definitively determine whether it is possible to completely eliminate the surgical castration of male pigs. While the use of anesthesia and/or analgesics appears to meet the welfare
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tor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.