Swine

Do Mexican TN-Visa swine caretakers’ euthanasia attitudes differ if they are male or female?

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Abstract

Currently, Hispanic and Latino caretakers makeup 17.2% of the total animal production and aquaculture workforce in the United States (U.S.). Yet, little is known about swine euthanasia attitudes between male and female caretakers. The objective of this project was to investigate if there were euthanasia attitudinal differences between male and female swine caretakers on a TN-visa from Mexico working on a commercial sow farm. An online Qualtrics survey was delivered in Spanish language and completed by 32 participants (16 males and 16 females). Eligible respondents were swine caretakers on a Trade NAFTA (TN) visa who spoke and read Spanish as their first language. Results will be presented descriptively. Caretaker mean average age was 32 yr (range 24 to 53 yr), and 97% had received a higher education, with 62% never euthanizing an animal prior to working with pigs. Average time living in the U.S. was 2.8 yr. Regardless of caretaker sex, all caretakers reported being confident, knowledgeable, could make decisions, and were comfortable in performing euthanasia. Furthermore, there were no differences when euthanasia was being considered for an adult pig versus a neonatal piglet. In conclusion, these results suggest pigs and piglets are likely to receive timely and humane euthanasia to alleviate suffering on-farm by male and female swine caretakers on a TN-visa from Mexico.

Keywords: Caretaker mental health, TN Visa, Stress, Male, Female

How to Cite:

Yarian, J. K., Skaar, B., Johnson, A. K., Stalder, K. J., Ross, J. W., Millman, S. T., Pairis-Garcia, M. D., Robles, I. & Jass, C., (2022) “Do Mexican TN-Visa swine caretakers’ euthanasia attitudes differ if they are male or female?”, Iowa State University Animal Industry Report 19(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/air.14475