Pre-slaughter stunning is the most important welfare intervention at slaughter, rendering animals unconscious before killing — but stunning methods and quality vary significantly.
Pre-slaughter stunning welfare is the most regulated and scrutinised welfare moment in food production, yet significant variation in stunning quality persists. Captive bolt misplacement causes ineffective stunning requiring restuns; water bath electrical parameters that prioritise cardiac arrest over brain disruption may cause aversive pre-stun shocks; CO2 stunning in pigs causes distress at induction before loss of consciousness. Religious slaughter without pre-stunning raises the welfare concern of consciousness during post-cut blood loss. The welfare case for universal high-quality stunning is strong, and improvements in monitoring, equipment maintenance, and operator training are the primary tools for reducing the welfare gap between best practice and routine.