Stunning on Animals Slaughter on Islamic Law Perspective

Journal of Veterinary and Animal Research, 2019

Islam sets up strict dietary rules and prescribes its followers will what and how to drink and eat under the term “halal”. Living halal and avoiding haram are the main frames for a Muslim life. Since halal meat is obtained from halal slaughter, it is a prerequisite that the animal must be alive at the time of the slaughter and death must be realized with a sharp knife cut. Otherwise, it could be suggested to kill or strangle the animal in the quickest way before the cut, because it is an indisputable fact that dead animals do not feel any pain. Regarding stunned animals, when electrical energy travels through the body, it may result in muscle cramp, paralysis in body, respiratory muscles and vocal cords, which induces pain and stress for the paralyzed animal. This might be observed as if the animal is not suffering when actually it is. However, the immediate cutting of the vessels of the neck without pre-stunning causes cerebral ischemia with depriving the brain from oxygen and glucose and it acts as a painkiller that disables the sensory centre and causes the animal to become entirely insensitive to pain. This paper attempts to assess the perception of pain during stunning and non-stunning slaughtering methods and give an objective perspective for halal slaughter in animals.

Meat Science, 2016

The debate surrounding the acceptability of stunning for Halal slaughter is one that is likely to linger. Compared to a couple of decades or so ago, one may argue that preslaughter stunning is becoming a popular practice during Halal slaughter due to the increasing number of Muslim-majority countries who continue to issue religious rulings (Fatwa) to approve the practice. Concerns have often, however been raised about the likelihood of some animals dying as a result of stunning and whether there are mechanisms in place to identify and remove dead animals stunned with irreversible techniques before their necks are cut. This paper reviews literature about what makes meat Halal, considers the arguments put forward by proponents and opponents of Pre-slaughter stunning for Halal meat production and examines the criteria used by Halal Certification Bodies to identify and reject animals that may die as a result of irreversible stunning and considers the specific risks of waterbath stunning (for poultry) from a Halal viewpoint. Highlights  Halal meat consumption is important to Muslims  The market for Halal meat is growing at an exponential rate  Halal animals must not be dead at the time of slaughter  We looked at the arguments for and against pre-slaughter stunning for Halal production  We examined the measures used to remove dead animals after stunning

2022

EFSA Journal

This guidance defines the process for handling applications on new or modified stunning methods and the parameters that will be assessed by the EFSA Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW) Panel. The applications, received through the European Commission, should contain administrative information, a checklist of data to be submitted and a technical dossier. The dossier should include two or more studies (in laboratory and slaughterhouse conditions) reporting all parameters and methodological aspects that are indicated in the guidance. The applications will first be scrutinised by the EFSA's Applications Desk (APDESK) Unit for verification of the completeness of the data submitted for the risk assessment of the stunning method. If the application is considered not valid, additional information may be requested from the applicant. If considered valid, it will be subjected to assessment phase 1 where the data related to parameters for the scientific evaluation of the stunning method will be examined by the AHAW Panel. Such parameters focus on the stunning method and the outcomes of interest, i.e. immediate onset of unconsciousness or the absence of avoidable pain, distress and suffering until the loss of consciousness and duration of the unconsciousness (until death). The applicant should also propose methodologies and results to assess the equivalence with existing stunning methods in terms of welfare outcomes. Applications passing assessment phase 1 will be subjected to the following phase 2 which will be carried out by the AHAW Panel and focuses on the animal welfare risk assessment. In this phase, the Panel will assess the outcomes, conclusions and discussion proposed by the applicant. The results of the assessment will be published in a scientific opinion.

Animal Welfare, 2006

Some supporters of religiousslaughter methods daim that efficiency of bleed-out is adverse/y affected by stunning. Our previous study carried out in sheep at an abattoir comparing the Muslim method of slaughter without stunning with pre-slaughter stunning using a captive bolt or by e/ectrical methods conduded that bleed-out is not adverse/y affected by..stunning, nor improved by a neck cut without stunning. In this paper, a similar study carried out in cattle is reported. In this study, captive bolt stunning followed by neck eutting was compared with the Muslim slaughter method without stunning. The total blood loss, percentage blood loss expressed as a percentage of live weight and percentage loss of estimated total blood were caleulated and compared between each group. In addition, the time periods taken to reach 25, 50, 75 and 90% of total blood loss were also calculated. There was no significant difference between the two stunning groups for any of these blood loss variables. The results, subjected to statistical analyses, also showed no apparent difference in the PCVlevels and meat quality parameters between treatments. These results confirm the findings with sheep and show that the bleed-out is not adverse/y affected by captive bolt stunning, nor improved by a neck cut without stunning in cattle. It is anticipated that these findings may help promote the use of stunning methods during Halal slaughter.

Translational Animal Science, 2021

There has always been a debate about the acceptability of stunning methods for preparing Halal slaughtered meat. Throughout the last few decades, stunning methods have become acceptable for Halal slaughtering due to an increasing majority of Muslim countries issuing Fatwas (religious rulings) that approve of stunning methods for the Halal slaughtering of food animals. With an increasing Muslim population worldwide, Halal meat provision is important for Muslims both economically and ethically. Moreover, there have been concerns regarding traditional Halal slaughter without the use of stunning from the standpoint of the animal’s welfare. This article reviews the different stunning methods available and the associated processing practices, addressing their pros and cons in the commercial production of Halal meat.

2009

The present document has been produced and adopted by the bodies identified above as authors. In accordance with Article 36 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, this task has been carried out exclusively by the authors in the context of a grant agreement between the European Food Safety Authority and the authors. The present document is published complying with the transparency principle to which the European Food Safety Authority is subject. It may not be considered as an output adopted by EFSA. EFSA reserves its rights, view and position as regards the issues addressed and the conclusions reached in the present document, without prejudice to the rights of the authors.

2008

7.1. Pain _____________________________________________________________________ 44 7.2. Frustration _______________________________________________________________ 45 7.3. Distress and stress _________________________________________________________ 45 7.4. Fear _____________________________________________________________________ 45 7.5. Anxiety __________________________________________________________________ 45 8. Assessment of animal welfare risks during stunning and killing _______________ 46 8.1. Risk assessment methodology ________________________________________________ 46

Meat Science, 2017

The importance of religious slaughter from economic, emotive and ethical viewpoints is significant. There are apparent economic benefits associated with trading in meats slaughtered according to religious traditions. Some religious authorities insist on the slaughter of animals without stunning, but this, according to many researchers, compromises animal welfare. We conducted a survey of Islamic scholars and Halal consumers, 66 scholars from 55 organisations and 314 consumers from 54 UK cities/towns were surveyed. Forty-nine scholars were interviewed through prearranged meetings, 17 surveyed online whilst all 314 consumers were either surveyed online or through the remote completion of copies of the questionnaire. Most of the scholars (>95%) (CI 86.9 to 98.4%) agreed that if an animal is stunned and then slaughtered by a Muslim and the method of stunning does not result in death, cause physical injury or obstruct bleed-out, the meat would be Halal and 53% (CI 47 to 58%) consumers also thought such meat would be Halal.

Frontiers in animal science, 2023

required by law in most instances. Conversely, the slaughter of fully conscious animals is a common practice in lesser developed areas of the world mainly due to economic reasons (Fuseini and Sulemana, 2018) but also due to strict religious beliefs most commonly associated with Islam and Judaism (Jalil et al., 2018). This practice is also allowed by derogation in countries with stunning legislation in place. This manuscript assumes the position of current animal welfare and neurophysiological science consensus that correctly applied preslaughter stunning measures reduce suffering during slaughter. Although the animal has the most to lose as a result of the common human practice of slaughter, the animals themselves are Sinclair et al.