Josefine Jerlström

My journey in animal welfare and slaughter started already during my studies. I went on a Sida-funded exchange (Linnaeus-Palme) in Ethiopia 2012 and studied animal handling in markets and slaughterhouses, which also became the subject of my bachelor's thesis. After that, I started working in a slaughterhouse in Sweden and had to put the theory to test in the practical aspects. It later resulted in the master's thesis on "When and what determines the death of an animal?". After graduation, I then started my own company Slaktrådet, where I, among other things, provide advices to slaughterhousess and educate slaughter personnel. 

In my free time, I maintain my butcher- and cutting skills when I'm hunting, which is my greatest interest. I'm also educated gamekeeper and have through that gained a broad understanding and knowledge base in terms of wild life management and conservation. I also breed moose dogs under the prefix Skallsångens kennel and am a judge for moose hunting dogs.

In addition to animal welfare aspects at the time of slaughter, I am involved in research concerning animal welfare and animal protection of wild animals.

Project page of my PhD project

Master projects (30 ECTS), Department of applied animal science and welfare, SLU:

Rathjen, Minna, 2024. Stress, meat quality and animal welfare during different hunting methods on moose. Animal scientist and agronomist (co-supervisor)

Rathjen, Minna, 2023-2024. Animal welfare and animal protection during seal hunting in Sweden – A qualitative and quantitative study on hunting methods and results. Animal scientist and agronomist (co-supervisor)

Carlsson, Julia, 2022. How does different production systems affect the welfare status of pigs from farm to abattoir?: developing and evaluating animal welfare protocols. Animal scientist and agronomist. (main-supervisor)

Johansson, Elin, 2022. The impact of production system on animal welfare of cattle prior to slaughter: from loading on-farm to stunning at the slaughterhouse. Animal Scientist and agronomist. (main-supervisor)

Mollbrink, Johanna, 2021. Utveckling och tillämpning av djurvälfärdsprotokoll vid slakt av grisar och nötkreatur. Veterinarian. (co-supervisor)

Kristensen, Kristina, 2021. Tidpunkten för hjärtstopp hos ren vid slakt samt frekvensen av muskelsammandragningar under avblodning. Veterinarian. (co-supervisor)

Bachelor projects (15 ECTS), Department of applied animal science and welfare, SLU:

Söderlund, Therese, 2024. Animal welfare and profitability: achieving optimal balance in animal production systems. Ethology and animal welfare student. (main-supervisor)

Jerlström J, Huang W, Ehlorsson C-J, Eriksson I, Reneby A and Comin A (2022) Stochastic partial budget analysis of strategies to reduce the prevalence of lung lesions in finishing pigs at slaughter. Front. Vet. Sci. 9:957975. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.957975

Jerlström J, Berg C, Karlsson A, Wallenbeck A, Hansson H. A formal model for assessing the economic impact of animal welfare improvements at bovine and porcine slaughter. Animal Welfare. 2022;31(3):361-371. doi:10.7120/09627286.31.4.004

Masteruppsats 2014

When and what determines the death of an animal? A study investigating the heart activity during slaughter of farm animals.

Kandidatuppsats 2012

Animal welfare in Ethiopia: Transport to and handling of cattle at markets in Addis Abeba and Ambo