www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/environment/article4339079.ece
The Times wrote:
The number of animals killed in halal abattoirs without being stunned first has soared because of campaigning by Muslims for traditional methods of slaughter.
Halal and kosher abattoirs cut the throats of 2.4 million sheep and goats without stunning in the latest recorded year, an increase of 60 per cent, according to the British Veterinary Association’s analysis of surveys by the Food Standards Agency.
Halal and kosher abattoirs cut the throats of 2.4 million sheep and goats without stunning in the latest recorded year, an increase of 60 per cent, according to the British Veterinary Association’s analysis of surveys by the Food Standards Agency.
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The paper says a survey by the Food Standards Agency found a 60% increase in such practices, with now more than a third of sheep, quarter of cattle and one-sixth of poultry being slaughtered in accordance with what some Muslims believe is "religious tradition".
Awal Fuseini, of the Halal Food Authority, said the increase in religious slaughter was due to campaigning by Muslims who "wrongly believed" that stunning killed the animals.
Meat in an abbatoir
For meat to be halal, the animal has to be alive when its throat is cut and die from blood loss.
Mr Fuseini tells the Times that tests should be carried out to prove to Muslims that animals can recover from stunning, and such measures are not incompatible with religious slaughter.
The paper notes that the British Veterinary Association is pushing to ban religious slaughter in the UK, saying that cows and chicken can experience more than two minutes of pain if they are killed without first being stunned.
Animals slaughtered in accordance with Jewish religious beliefs are also not stunned, but this for only 1% of all British meat, the paper adds.
The paper's leader column says "religious" slaughtering techniques are "indefensible".
"There is no sound justification for this cruelty.
"It is not a matter of religion, but a question of unnecessary pain and anguish.
"If ministers want to see animals slaughtered humanely, they have the power and public support to make it so."
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