Smithfield

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ience of the respondents by country and overall. Country BEL BGR HRV CZE DEU ESP FRA ITA NOR POL PRT ROU RUS SRB SWE UKR OVERALL Pork consumption Less than once a week 16 10 8 11 20 14 19 23 25 15 16 18 21 13 35 26 18 1–2 times a week 31 33 38 28 46 34 43 40 45 35 34 37 33 33 34 37 36 3–4 times a week 35 30 34 36 20 36 27 30 18 28 35 30 28 30 22 23 29 More than 4 times a week 18 28 20 25 13 17 11 7 12 22 16 16 19 23 9 14 17 Where do you buy your meat Butcher 54 67 61 65 45 55 43 56 2 18 40 44 39 47 8 52 44 Supermarket 81 49 57 73 80 62 69 51 98 75 78 51 57 46 92 31 66 Local producer 22 27 24 24 10 10 24 25 9 34 8 16 23 21 19 33 20 Liking score 1 Pork chops 5.1 6.0 5.8 6.2 5.8 5.5 5.7 5.7 5.8 5.5 6.0 5.1 6.0 5.1 5.1 6.1 5.6 Minced meat products 5.8 5.4 5.6 5.5 5.9 5.4 5.7 6.1 5.7 5.4 5.1 4.8 5.6 5.1 5.4 5.1 5.5 Importance at purchase 2 Lowest price 9 43 32 27 21 19 12 13 15 25 36 34 44 31 11 11 24 Good taste 84 95 95 80 82 88 91 89 90 83 85 93 89 92 83 66 86 Improved animal welfare 50 69 60 30 60 53 64 45 52 41 52 67 51 55 89 32 55 Produced locally 58 75 79 56 53 62 75 71 41 46 58 70 52 63 70 22 59 Produced organically 33 64 53 18 38 36 48 40 11 28 29 57 52 49 36 34 40 Low fat content 23 46 32 22 32 39 27 27 19 45 36 55 54 42 7 21 33 High tenderness 56 83 74 36 55 70 62 64 53 47 74 77 76 61 38 34 60 Easy to prepare 31 68 58 30 46 50 36 42 42 56 55 70 61 63 34 35 48 Guaranteed food safety 87 94 94 62 76 90 81 71 81 79 85 94 89 91 86 74 84 Low environmental impact 51 77 60 25 54 56 57 50 39 32 49 67 51 62 50 34 52 Confident that meat is safe 92 58 70 61 78 93 74 52 84 64 91 71 53 73 76 47 72 Negative towards vaccination 19 18 28 34 16 9 17 15 11 20 3 28 34 31 8 20 20 Aware of piglet castration 76 65 66 70 56 49 80 51 65 41 71 34 35 47 84 60 59 Experience with bad

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

animals Article Identifying Barriers to Implementing Pain Management for Piglet Castration: A Focus Group of Swine Veterinarians Brooklyn Wagner 1, * , Kenneth Royal 2 , Rachel Park 1 and Monique Pairis-Garcia 1 1 Department of Population Health and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA; rmpark@ncsu.edu (R.P.); pairis-garcia@ncsu.edu (M.P.-G.) 2 Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA; kdroyal2@ncsu.edu * Correspondence: bwagner2@ncsu.edu Received: 27 May 2020; Accepted: 11 July 2020; Published: 15 July 2020 Simple Summary: Surgical castration is a painful husbandry procedure typically performed on piglets in the United States (US) within the first week of life. Castration is used to improve meat quality, and as a result, nearly all male pigs destined for slaughter in the US will be castrated. In recent years, consumers and retailers have questioned the ethicality of castration as a production practice, given that it results in pain experienced by the piglet. However, eliminating castration is not practical at this time in the US, and the adoption of pain management protocols remains the most viable solution to managing pain associated with castration. Given that veterinarians often have direct oversight regarding the development of animal care protocols, the objective of the present study is to identify factors influencing swine veterinarian decision-making in regard to pain management for piglet castration using focus group methodologies. Three main areas of focus were identified and included (1) the lack of approved products validated for efficacy, (2) economic limitations and challenges, and (3) deficient guidelines and

animals Article Identifying Barriers to Implementing Pain Management for Piglet Castration: A Focus Group of Swine Veterinarians Brooklyn Wagner 1, * , Kenneth Royal 2 , Rachel Park 1 and Monique Pairis-Garcia 1 1 Department of Population Health and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA; rmpark@ncsu.edu (R.P.); pairis-garcia@ncsu.edu (M.P.-G.) 2 Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA; kdroyal2@ncsu.edu * Correspondence: bwagner2@ncsu.edu Received: 27 May 2020; Accepted: 11 July 2020; Published: 15 July 2020 Simple Summary: Surgical castration is a painful husbandry procedure typically performed on piglets in the United States (US) within the first week of life. Castration is used to improve meat quality, and as a result, nearly all male pigs destined for slaughter in the US will be castrated. In recent years, consumers and retailers have questioned the ethicality of castration as a production practice, given that it results in pain experienced by the piglet. However, eliminating castration is not practical at this time in the US, and the adoption of pain management protocols remains the most viable solution to managing pain associated with castration. Given that veterinarians often have direct oversight regarding the development of animal care protocols, the objective of the present study is to identify factors influencing swine veterinarian decision-making in regard to pain management for piglet castration using focus group methodologies. Three main areas of focus were identified and included (1) the lack of approved products validated for efficacy, (2) economic limitations and challenges, and (3) deficient guidelines and