Effective animal stunning

An animal stunning apparatus for inducing unconsciousness and insensibility enabling processing or handling of a subject animal, the apparatus including:

• a stunning station to which a live subject animal to be processed or handled is introduced, the stunning station being arranged to locate the subject animal in a confined position,
• an applicator located so as to contact an application point on the live subject animal's head immediately overlying a frontal portion of the animal's brain, the applicator having a coupling conformation to couple microwave radiation therethrough to the head and to the frontal portion of the brain of the subject animal when in the confined position at the stunning station,
• a microwave generator for generating and radiating microwave energy of a suitable power level and frequency,
• a waveguide coupled to the generator so as to receive and direct the microwave radiation to the applicator located at an operative end of the waveguide so as to thereby heat the frontal portion of the brain of the subject animal beneath the application point which the applicator contacts in use, and
• a switch operable so as to discontinue the application of microwave radiation effecting heating of the frontal portion of the brain after a period of time sufficient to have raised the temperature of the frontal portion of the brain of the subject animal to thereby induce the unconsciousness and insensibility, and
• wherein the apparatus further includes an auto-tuner operatively associated with the waveguide and which detects reflected power of microwave radiation in the waveguide resulting from the degree of the impedance matching between the applicator and the head and which tunes the waveguide to reduce the reflected power and increase the transfer of the microwave power to the head.