Nielsen, Søren SaxmoseÁlvarez Sánchez, JulioBoklund, AnetteDippel, SabineDorea, FernandaFiguerola, JordiHerskin, MetteMiranda Chueca, Miguel AngelNannoni, EleonoraNonno, RomoloRiber, AnjaStahl, KarlStegeman, Jan ArendThulke, Hans-HermannTuyttens, FrankWinckler, ChristophRaj, MohanVelarde, AntonioCandiani, DeniseVan der Stede, YvesMichel, Virginie2025-02-192025-02-192025Nielsen, S. S., Alvarez, J., Boklund, A., Dippel, S., Dorea, F., Figuerola, J., Herskin, M., Miranda Chueca, M. A., Nannoni, E., Nonno, R., Riber, A., Stahl, K., Stegeman, J. A., Thulke, H.-H., Tuyttens, F., Winckler, C., Raj, M., Velarde, A., … Michel, V. (2025). Welfare of horses during killing for purposes other than slaughter. EFSA Journal, 23(1), e9195. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.91951831-473210.2903/j.efsa.2025.9195https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/118227Horses of different ages may have to be killed on-farm for purposes other thanslaughter (where slaughter is defined as killing for human consumption) either in-dividually (i.e. on-farm killing of unproductive, injured or terminally ill animals) oron a large-scale (i.e. depopulation for disease control purposes and other situa-tions, such as environmental contamination, disaster management, etc.). The pur-pose of this opinion is to assess the hazards and welfare consequences associatedwith the on-farm killing of horses. The killing procedure is divided into Phase 1(pre-killing), which includes the processes (i) handling and moving the animals tothe killing place and (ii) restraint of the animals before application of the killingmethod; and Phase 2 (stunning and/or killing), which includes stunning and kill-ing of the animals (for methods that require one step for stunning and another forsubsequent killing) or killing only (for methods that simultaneously stun and killthe animals). Three stunning and/or killing methods for Phase 2 for horses wereidentified: (i) penetrative captive bolt followed by killing, (ii) firearms with free pro-jectiles and (iii) lethal injection. Welfare consequences that horses may experienceduring each process (e.g. handling stress, restriction of movement and injuries dur-ing restraint) were identified and potential hazards are listed for all phases, alongwith preventive and corrective measures. Animal-based measures (ABMs) to assessall identified welfare consequences were proposed. During the application of thestunning and/or killing methods, horses will experience pain and fear if they areineffectively stunned/killed or if they recover consciousness. A flowchart includ-ing ABMs for the assessment of consciousness and death to monitor stunning andkilling effectiveness is provided. Additionally, specific practices deemed unaccep-table on welfare grounds are listedengAttribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/journal article1831-4732https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.919539877302open access636.09:616-091Animal-based measureCaptive boltFirearmKillingLethal injectionStunningHorseSanidad animal3109 Ciencias Veterinarias