Determinants of consumer acceptance of alternatives to piglet castration without anaesthesia - a review

Summary

In order to prevent the occurrence of boar taint, almost all male piglets are routinely castrated in Europe. Usually, this surgical intervention is carried out without the use of anaesthesia or analgesia. Recently, animal welfare concerns over this practice have been raised and efforts are made to ban surgical castration of piglets without anaesthesia. Therefore, it is necessary to find alternatives to piglet castration without anaesthesia.
An important factor for the implementation of possible alternatives is consumers’ acceptance of and willingness to pay for pork which was produced using these alternatives. Existing research on this topic mainly focused on consumer reactions to meat form entire male pigs. Only a few studies analysed consumer acceptance of immunocastration, castration with anaesthesia and sexing of sperm. This article reviews consumer research on the acceptance of alternatives to piglet castration without anaesthesia and discusses the relevance of the findings for the meat industry as well as the need for action and further research.