Removing the spinal column from a half-carcass of a slaughtered animal

A method of removing, at least partly, the spinal column from a half-carcass of a slaughtered animal that has been cut substantially along the median plane of the slaughtered animal thereby providing a median cut surface of the half-carcass, the method comprising:

• locating, on the ventral side of the half-carcass, an anatomical structure defined in relation to joints between rib heads and the spinal column of the half-carcass,
• determining a characteristic geometrical feature of the median cut surface and/or of the ventral side of the half-carcass, the characteristic geometrical feature comprising:
• a position on and/or a spatial orientation of at least a part of the exposed rib or spinal column, and
• cutting along a cutting path, the cutting path being defined in relation to said anatomical structure and said characteristic geometrical feature of the median cut surface and/or of the ventral side of the half-carcass, so as to remove, at least partly, the spinal column from the half-carcass.