February 19, 2014 | Agriculture

UK: British politicians will not be outlawing Halal slaughter

Following the issues regarding the banning of non stun Halal slaughter in Denmark, Jane Matthews has written an article for Express on the topic. The following is a part of the article with regard to the view on stunning animals for Halal slaughter in the UK, for the full article go to the link:Jane Matthews, Express

……Last year, British politicians said that they would not be outlawing religious slaughter despite “strong pressure” from the RSPCA and other bodies.The organisation for the English beef and sheep industry (EBLEX) has called for two different Halal logos – one for stunned beef and lamb and one for non-stunned – to be introduced to allow more animals slaughtered by Halal to be rendered unconscious.

John Blackwell, president elect of the British Veterinary Association and practising vet, supported the idea, saying: “I think the proposals are all about choice – if people want to consume halal and they don’t have a strong opinion about stunning then they have a freedom of choice to do that.

“Our position remains that animals should all be stunned prior to slaughter such as that they’re rendered insensible to pain at the point of death.

“All the evidence I’ve seen and interpreted suggests there is a welfare issue associated to the perception of pain during the period between the throat being cut and the animal’s loss of sensibility.”

Dr Julia Wrathall, head of the RSPCA’s farm animal science department, said: “We want to see all animals rendered unconscious before slaughter.

“Until that time we are calling for clear labelling so shoppers are armed with information that can enable them to make an informed choice about whether they buy meat from animals which have not been stunned before slaughter.”

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