Table 3.

Main themes and subthemes discussed by focus group participants, the proportion of time dedicated to each theme and a brief, direct quote that highlights each theme.

Themes	% of Discussion	Direct Quotes
Animal Factors
Animal welfare/well-being	16	“You are removing the pain and suffering from that animal, so they don’t have to endure whatever it is that you’re euthanizing them for...”
Health status/condition/disease	15	“[L]isten to what the animal is telling you...their state of physical health.”
Improvement	11	“[C]ompromised to where she’s not going to improve, that’s when we’re going to decide to euthanize.”
Herd impact	2.1	“By removing that animal from the group, you are adding back to the other animals.”
Transport survivability	1.2	“We’re very conscious of not sending animals to slaughter that have a condition that would not allow them to survive the trip…”
Productivity potential	1.2	“[I]f this animal is not going to perform to possibly your standards or the average in the herd.”
Human Factors
Emotions/psychology	16	“[I] know it’s the right thing, but it is a tough thing.”
Human safety/food safety	7.4	“Safety for everybody involved.”
Education/training	5.4	“[M]ake sure that we have our employees trained to do that correctly as well as properly euthanize that animal without causing her anymore suffering.”
Public perception	3.7	“[V]isually to somebody that doesn’t understand what’s going on, it’s a PR issue and I would say that is a drawback.”
Farm Operation Factors
Financial/economical	7.4	“[I]f cull prices are up you’re obviously going to do more to try and get that animal into a state where it can be sold rather than be euthanized.”
Protocols/procedures/ guidelines	6.2	“[B]eing able to do it ourselves on the farm, following our strict protocols that we’ve developed with our veterinarian…”
Carcass disposal	2.1	“[D]isposal of the animal is always a problem and timely disposal too.”
Equipment	2.1	“[W]hether you use a gun or a deadbolt, those tools, if not used correctly, can create a potentially unsafe environment…”
Veterinarian recommendation	2.1	“If you think you’ve got a disease present and you need to delay so that the vet has time to test to figure out what disease you’re dealing with…”
Time/labor/space	1.7	“[I]t’s also the time and effort herdsman and other people…that we work with have put time and effort into an animal if it’s a sick animal…”