Silver Plume Dr., Unit C3, Fort Collins, Colorado 80526, USA Scientific research has shown that an electric stunner must have sufficient amperage to induce a grand mal seizure to insure that the animal will be made instantly insensible. These amperages must be maintained for one second to induce instant insensibility.
Insufficient amperage can cause an animal to be paralyzed without losing sensibility.
Research has also shown that too high of an electrical frequency will fail to induce insensibility. One disadvantage is that the pigs regained sensibility more quickly compared to stunning at 50 to 60 cycles. The pigs in this experiment weighed one third less than comparable U.S. market pigs and this probably explains why the lower amperages were effective. Some plants stun animals below the Council of Europe recommended minimum amperages in an attempt to reduce blood spots in the meat. Since only a one second application at 1.25 amps is required to induce instant insensibility in market weight pigs, it is the author's opinion that plants should be permitted to use circuits which lower the amperage settings after an initial stun at 1.25 amps for pigs and 1 amp for sheep.