Over 114,000 people have signed a petition on a government website calling for a ban on the slaughter of animals without stunning them first.
The petition is addressed to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and will mostly affect Muslims and Jews should it ever be enacted in law.
The e-petition reads: “We call for an end to slaughter without pre-stunning for all animals. EU and UK law requires all animals to be pre-stunned before slaughter to render them insensible to pain until death supervenes. But non-stun slaughter is permitted for certain communities.
“We support BVA, RSPCA, HSA, FAWC and FVE who conclude that scientific evidence shows that non-stun slaughter allows animals to perceive pain and compromises welfare.
“We must differentiate between religious and non-stun slaughter. Our concern does not relate to religious belief but to the animal welfare compromise of non-stun slaughter.
“We note
– over 80% of UK Halal slaughter is pre-stunned
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– hindquarters of animals killed by (non-stun) Shechita can enter the market unlabelled
– While non-stun slaughter is permitted we call for clearer slaughter-method labelling and post-cut stunning to improve welfare.
– Non-stun slaughter affects millions of animals. We support a good life and a humane death for all animals.”
Govt response
As the e-petition received more than 10 000 signatures, the Government provided the following response:
“The Government encourages the highest standards of welfare at slaughter and would prefer to see all animals stunned before they are slaughtered for food
“However, we also respect the rights of the Jewish and Muslim communities to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs. Recently, the Prime Minister has confirmed that that there would be no ban on religious slaughter in the UK.”
Meanwhile, the Halal Monitoring Commitee has issued a counter-petition which has so far been signed by over 35,000 people.
The e-petition, which expires at the end of March, says the Government “should continue to protect the right to non-stun religious slaughter in the UK.”
It reads: “Judaism and Islam require adherents to treat animals with kindness and to minimise pain when slaughtering. Scientific evidence shows minimisation of suffering when religious slaughter is practiced properly:
“Stunning in abattoirs frequently fails to effectively stun the animal, thereby causing suffering. The British Veterinary Association and others opposing religious slaughter should focus on improving the competence of slaughterers who stun, instead of attacking methods that have been shown to minimise suffering.”
