Position Statements

Castration of Cattle, Sheep, and Goats

December 19, 2024

Position statements developed by the CVMA reflect current knowledge regarding animal welfare. While they are not legislative, they do represent CVMA’s ongoing commitment to the advancement of animal welfare.

Position

The CVMA recommends that when castration of cattle, sheep and goats is required, it is
undertaken at the earliest age possible. These procedures should follow an on-farm protocol
developed with the farm veterinarian which includes an appropriate technique, and appropriate
analgesia and anesthesia for the age and species.

Summary

  • All methods of castration cause acute and chronic pain. This should be mitigated by the use of indicated local anesthesia and appropriate analgesics.
  • Castration should be encouraged at the earliest age possible.
  • Veterinarians should ensure that their clients are sufficiently trained in the appropriate methods of castration, how to recognize pain and how to provide pain control.
  • At present, there are no approved analgesics and anesthetics labeled for use in small ruminants for castration. Producers should consult their veterinarians to develop appropriate pain control protocols for the castration of these species.
  • More research is required to assess alternate methods of castration such as immunocastration and the use of topical anesthetics.

Background

  1. The CVMA encourages development and implementation of practical analgesic and anesthetic protocols for ruminant castration that control acute and long-term pain, discomfort, and distress associated with this procedure. The CVMA position statement on Surgical Procedures Performed on Animals should be reviewed for additional guidance (1).
  2. Currently not all National Animal Farm Care Council (NFACC) Codes of Practice (2) require the use of anesthesia and analgesia for castration of all ages of cattle sheep and goats.
  3. When establishing a Veterinarian-Client-Patient-Relationship (VCPR) with a new client or reviewing castration procedures on an existing client's farm, the CVMA encourages veterinarians to ensure that their clients are trained in: (a) the appropriate methods to use for castration (3), (b) how to provide pain control, and (c)how to recognize acute and chronic pain (4- 9). They should also make appropriate analgesics available for their clients to use when they themselves are castrating animals (10) Castration should only be carried out by competent personnel using appropriate, well-maintained equipment and accepted techniques with anesthesia and analgesia, and subsequent monitoring for hemorrhage and infection.
  4. Castration of cattle, sheep, and goats has traditionally been a routine part of livestock husbandry. It avoids unwanted pregnancies and reduces aggression towards humans and other animals. Castration can improve meat quality by increasing the distribution of fat, improving tenderness (cattle and sheep) (11-13), avoiding undesirable odours and flavour (rams and bucks) (14, 15), and reducing the occurrence of dark-firm-dry meat (cattle) (16). However, intact animals are more efficient at converting feed into lean meat (17) and castration is not necessary for all systems of management, such as the rearing of lambs for slaughter before they reach sexual maturity and in veal cattle production.
  5. Current castration methods involve the surgical removal of the testicles, or techniques that cause restriction of the blood supply which results in testicular necrosis (e.g., rubber rings, bands, and Burdizzo/clamp). Some associated procedural risks include infection, fly strike, hemorrhage and incomplete castration (18). The risk of incomplete castration is lowest after surgery; it is intermediate after the use of a rubber ring, and greatest after the use of a Burdizzo/clamp (19).
  6. It may be advisable to delay castration in small ruminants that are to be kept as pets to reduce the risk of urolithiasis. Research suggests that it should be delayed until at least 3 months of age, and that the risk is reduced due to increased urethral size. The delay will also improve the visualization of the penis and the vermiform appendage in the event that urolithiasis occurs (20, 21).
  7. Further research is required on the effects of age on the relative severity of pain experienced by young ruminants in response to castration (22-25). Castration of young animals involves less tissue injury, the methods of handling and restraint are easier, there is less reduction in growth rate, and some behavioural and physiological responses to castration are reduced in younger animals (23-29).
  8. While castration without anesthesia and analgesia results in acute and chronic pain (28-31), there are situations that may result in greater stress to administer local anesthesia than the resultant benefit (30). Analgesia should always be used. New multimodal approaches to pain control using topical anesthetics may be preferable to no pain control (32- 38), but results have been inconsistent (36, 39, 40). The type and timing of the anesthetic and analgesia may vary depending on the method of castration chosen (39-43).
  9. Many analgesics and anesthetics commonly used for castration in ruminants involve extra label drug use (ELDU) (44,45). In particular, there are limited anesthetics or analgesics approved for use in sheep and goats in Canada, although they are used routinely, and safe dosages are available to practitioners. Producers must work with their veterinarian to develop drug protocols appropriate for castration that consider food safety as well as animal welfare (46).
  10. The CVMA encourages more research into the development of alternative methods of castration such as immunocastration and the use of topical anesthetics that could potentially reduce the pain and discomfort associated with current methods of castration and that can be included in commercial farming castration protocols (47-50). Research has been conducted on the use of lidocaine impregnated latex castration bands that demonstrated that they provided sufficient post castration analgesia. Their use should be encouraged over the use of traditional latex bands without lidocaine (50).

References

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