A weapon designed to kill large animals, such as domestic cattle and horses, as quickly and (hopefully) painlessly as possible, by inflicting a concussion that instantly renders the animal unconscious. They are used in the slaughter of livestock for meat, and also to euthanize injured farm animals. The most common type is the [i]captive bolt pistol[/i], which, as its name suggests, is a handgun-like device that forcibly projects a heavy bolt, which remains attached to the weapon. Despite the name, how humane these devices really are is a matter of considerable debate. They sometimes turn up as murder weapons in fiction, and also occasionally in fact.
humane killer