Surgical castration of male animals is a routine
and widely used practice in the pig breeding industry.
It is aimed at preventing boar taint, an unpleasant
smell of the meat attributed to the accumulation
of skatole and androstenone in the fatty tissue of
sexually mature male pigs (boars), causing negative
perception and rejection of such meat by the
consumers (Font i Furnols et al., 2003; Bonneau
and Squires, 2004). Besides the absence of boar
taint, castrates exhibit less aggressive behaviour