Does Serbia need mobile slaughterhouses?

Milan Ž. Baltić; Marija Starčević; Ivana Branković Lazić; Milica Laudanović; Nataša Glamočlija; Boris Mrdović; Vesna Đorđević

doi:10.18485/meattech.2025.66.1.1

Milan Ž. Baltić University in Belgrade - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4469-3411
Marija Starčević Veterinary Service Centre, Military Health Department of Republic of Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0857-5218
Ivana Branković Lazić Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Kaćanskog 13, 11 000 Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0009-0005-5844-9278
Milica Laudanović University in Belgrade - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine https://orcid.org/0009-0008-6381-2803
Nataša Glamočlija University in Belgrade - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4799-9416
Boris Mrdović Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Kaćanskog 13, 11 000 Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9964-4317
Vesna Đorđević Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Kaćanskog 13, 11 000 Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5187-4089

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18485/meattech.2025.66.1.1

Keywords: animal slaughter, transport, welfare, small ruminants, consumers

Abstract

Mobile slaughterhouses were first mentioned in 1960 and were used to process the carcasses of hunted deer. Today, the use of these facilities for slaughtering animals, processing carcasses and cooling meat is primarily for the slaughter of farm animals (dairy cows) that have difficulty moving and cannot tolerate long transport durations. These mobile units are also used nowadays for the slaughter of lambs (prior to weaning) that are not used to drinking water, and when the transport is longer than 10 hours. Most often, the use of mobile slaughterhouses is related to the well-being of animals, i.e., to mitigating the numerous stressful situations that animals go through from their place of residence to the stunning box. However, meat quality is also a factor in the use of these slaughterhouses. Consumers who are particularly interested in animal welfare are ready to pay a higher price for meat obtained from animals that are exposed to less stress (which typically arises from long transport, lack of food and water, overcrowded vehicles or weather conditions). The other main advantage of mobile slaughterhouses is, in addition to reducing the length of transport, the forging of direct connections between breeders and slaughterhouses (no intermediaries, buyers). This is of particular importance for the mountainous areas of Serbia, where small ruminants are mostly raised in peasant households with a small number of animals. The use of mobile slaughterhouses would reduce the number of animals slaughtered by households (small ruminants, piglets) outside veterinary supervision. For the application of mobile slaughterhouses, a good knowledge of the raw material base (species and number of animals, volume of animal feed production), demographic data, roads, energy, water resources, etc., is necessary. Mobile slaughterhouses must meet all the operating conditions that apply to stationary slaughterhouses.