Halal slaughter and ritual slaughter without stunning
 In several European countries there has been much controversy about halal meat and ritual slaughter without stunning. According to halal requirements, an animal should be conscious when the carotid artery is cut.
Standard slaughter procedure
In normal slaughter this procedure is more animal friendly, because the animal is stunned before the carotid artery is cut. Stunning is done with a captive bolt pistol to the head. The animal drops down. Next the carotid artery is cut, while the animal is hung by its hind leg on the slaughter line to bleed out.
Chicken slaughter methods
Chickens are first hung by their legs and then led upside down through an electric water bath, which is meant to stun them before their neck is 'sawn through'. The water bath often carries too little current (to prevent damage to the meat). As a result the chickens are not fully stunned and are partly or even fully conscious when their neck is cut.
Stunning with gas (CO2) is also possible. This method is slightly more expensive than the electric water bath.
Rabbit slaughter
A rabbit is stunned by a blow to the head. The rest of the procedure is as described above.
The reality of stunning: is it animal friendly?
Actually, the animals are stunned through violent means. It's up to the reader to decide whether the procedure using the captive bolt pistol, electric water bath or blow to the head is animal friendly. For whom this idea is unbearable, there is no other choice than to stop eating meat. Luckily this prospect has more advantages rather than disadvantages.
See also: Unnecessarily slaughtering according to Islamic law?. |
