Halal and Kosher slaughter 'must end'

Jun 25 15:02 UTC 2003

Halal and Kosher slaughter 'must end'
 
 
Most butchers have to stun animals first 
The method of animal slaughter used by Jews and Muslims should be 
banned immediately, according to an independent advisory group. 
The Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC), which advises the government 
on how to avoid cruelty to livestock, says the way Kosher and Halal 
meat is produced causes severe suffering to animals. 

Both the Jewish and Muslim religions demand that slaughter is carried 
out with a single cut to the throat, rather than the more widespread 
method of stunning with a bolt into the head before slaughter. 

Kosher and Halal butchers deny their method of killing animals is 
cruel and have expressed anger over the recommendation. 

'Clearly suffering' 

One worshipper at the Central London Mosque told BBC Radio 4's Today 
programme: "Everything about the Islamic way of life is under attack 
so it makes you wonder if this is actually about humanity to animals." 

Peter Jinman, president of the British Veterinary Association said 
vets respected people's religious beliefs, but urged Muslims to be 
respectful of animals too. 

 The brain is instantaneously starved of blood and there is no time to 
start feeling any pain 

Muslim Council of Great Britain  

"We're looking at what is acceptable in the moral and ethical society 
we live in," he told Today. 

FAWC said it wanted an end to the exemption currently allowed for 
Kosher and Halal meat from the legal requirement to stun animals 
first. 

It says cattle can take up to two minutes to bleed to death - 
amounting to an abuse of the animals. 

"This is a major incision into the animal and to say that it doesn't 
suffer is quite ridiculous," said FAWC chairwoman, Dr Judy MacArthur 
Clark. 

Compassion in World Farming backed the call, saying: "We believe that 
the law must be changed to require all animals to be stunned before 
slaughter." 

'Way of life' 

Muslims and Jews argue that their long established method of slaughter 
results in a sudden loss of blood from the head, causing animals to 
feel virtually nothing. 

 


Q&A: Animal slaughter  

They say they will fight any attempt to prevent a practice required by 
their religion and central to their way of life. 

One rabbi, who had been practicing the Jewish method of animal 
slaughter for around 40 years, told BBC News: "The process takes a 
fraction of a second. 

"With a very, very sharp knife all the vessels in the neck are severed 
and that means there's no blood going to the brain and the animal 
loses consciousness very rapidly and dies soon after that." 

The Muslim Council of Britain says animals are not distressed when 
they are slaughtered. 

"It's a sudden and quick haemorrhage. A quick loss of blood pressure 
and the brain is instantaneously starved of blood and there is no time 
to start feeling any pain," said spokesman Dr Majid Katme. 

The Humanists movement, which has previously called for the abolition 
of ritual slaughter, said ethical values should be put above religious 
ones. 

"There is no imperative for Muslims or Judaists to eat meat produced 
in this manner," said spokesman Roy Saich. 

"There is no reason why they should not simply abstain from eating 
meat altogether if they do not wish to eat the same meat as the rest 
of us." 


Link at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2977086.stm

response 2 of 55:

Jun 25 15:14 UTC 2003

I have not witnessed either method being applied, nor have I shared the 
experience of any animal being slaughtered by either method, so I do not 
feel capable of holding a fully informed opinion on the matter.

What I do feel qualified to say is that this is a matter primarily of 
emotional value to humans rather than one of any real concern to the 
animals involved.  They're being slaughtered either way.  Since I enjoy 
eating meat, I accept that.

response 6 of 55:

Jun 25 15:58 UTC 2003

I think it is a bit disingenuous, and maybe even hypocritical, to eat 
meat -- especially given the way our society removes the concept of meat 
from any connection the consumer may experience to the animal from which 
it comes -- and be concerned about whether the animal suffers for one 
second or five minutes while it is being slaughtered.

(Especially when nobody is making any noise about how much the animal 
suffers throughout its entire life up to the the point at which it is 
slaughtered -- except possibly those who don't eat meat, whose opinions 
are irrelevant to this particular discussion anyway.)

response 8 of 55:

Jun 25 16:25 UTC 2003

A flea is important.  But its importance is insignificant in the larger 
context in which we experience that individual flea.  So?

response 10 of 55:

Jun 25 16:34 UTC 2003

        Let's not go too overboard here.  You're still talking about killing
an animal, whether it's with a bolt to the head (which is normally pretty
humane, but that's probably incidental as it's also tremendously effective)
or with a throat-slitting.  It's not like they're cutting the animal with
little bits of paper in some bizaare reenactment of an old Chinese torture
technique.

response 12 of 55:

Jun 25 17:49 UTC 2003

Re #10: Somehow I doubt "authentic death by papercuts meat" would be a
big seller. ;>

response 14 of 55:

Jun 25 21:03 UTC 2003

Yeah, but cutting the earthworms just makes more of them....
(Music from the Sorcerer's Apprentice.)

response 16 of 55:

Jun 25 23:37 UTC 2003

Re #8: If you're arguing that we shouldn't worry about how animals are
killed, because our energies would be more effectively spent working on
something else, then that's a sensible argument.  But you need to back it
up by saying what you think we should be spending energy on.

But if your argument is that we shouldn't do anything about this
particular bit of gratuitous suffering because, well, there's suffering
all over, then that doesn't hold water.  How do things get better? by
addressing one problem at a time.

response 18 of 55:

Jun 26 01:00 UTC 2003

How does the cheeseburger make it to your mouth before you pull up to the
drive-through window?

response 20 of 55:

Jun 26 01:52 UTC 2003

K.

response 22 of 55:

Jun 26 04:11 UTC 2003

If you ban kosher slaughter, orthodox jews and muslims will be slaughtering
livestock in closets with coat hangers!  You don't want to see that, do you?

The bolt to the head technique makes sense to me, but I don't eat kosher foods
with any sort of intention.  What does it matter what they do with their
cattle?

response 24 of 55:

Jun 26 12:49 UTC 2003

There is a certain aesthetic appeal of getting one's throat slit.