Figure. 3.—Location of the brain.
The animal must be killed as quickly and humanely as possible. In a slaughter house the cattle are driven into a knocking pen where they are stunned with a compression gun. On the farm a mechanical stunner is usually not available; therefore, stunning is best accomplished with a well-directed long or long rifle bullet from a .22-caliber rifle. As with the use of any firearms, normal precautions should be taken when stunning the animal.
The purpose of stunning is to render the animal unconscious so that its throat can be cut. When stunning is accomplished with a .22-caliber rifle, the bullet should penetrate the skull and strike the brain. The location of the brain is shown in [figure 3]. If done properly the animal will be immobilized for several minutes.
It is best to have the animal secured to a tree or strong post. Direct the bullet at the intersection of two imaginary lines extending from the right edge of the poll to the center of the left eye and from the left edge of the poll to the center of the right eye as shown in [figure 4].
PN-4550
Figure 4.—The X shows where to stun.