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Halal meat

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Personally, I do not and neither does my husband. We're not strongly religious, so we don't mind the prayer/ritual that is done during the slaughter process.

As for the actual slaughter, even conventional slaughter methods where the animal is stunned "humanely" often do not work and lead to a lot of suffering for the animal. I've tried researching the halal methods and seeing if they are any better/worse, but there's a lot of mixed messages. Because of the way it is performed, some say the animal has no idea it is about to die, and when the bleeding process begins, it quickly loses consciousness. Others say it is more painful, on the other hand.

Unfortunately, unless we go out and catch our own animals and grow our own food, I never think we'll truly know what actually happens behind the scenes and which methods are best all around. :(

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I do not think this practice should be allowed how can any religion that encourages extra suffering to human or animal be right.

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I completely agree with you, Livelife. Allowing exceptions on religious grounds is wrong. I makes a mockery out of so-called 'humane' slaughter regulations. The meat industry is cruel enough without having to add further to the cruelty. Animals have no voice. They don't choose to be killed, whether humanely or not.

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That's true animals have no choice we inflict pain and suffering destroy their natural habitat and claim to be an intelligent species. The rules to protect their suffering are just their for appearances as in reality humans don't follow them to the letter or have a moral concept on their protection. I eat very little meat I have meat substitute it's better for you really and less animals will be born just to be killed.

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A question I ask proponents of electric stunning of animals prior to slaughter is whether they have received an electric shock powerful enough to stun (but obviously not kill) them or cause significant involuntary muscle contraction. As an electronic engineer by trade I have experienced several high voltage electric shocks, and believe me, they hurt. Therefore, I question whether the proponents of electric stunning really know what they are talking about or whether the argument boils down to ‘British’ vs foreign culture more than animal welfare.

 

Electric stunning was implemented during the early 20th century as a means to reduce costs and increase efficiency in slaughterhouses rather than as a method that was more humane. Most people didn't care about animal welfare back then. They just wanted cheap cuts of meat on their plates.

 

The most extreme contrast between halal slaughtering and electric stunning is chickens slaughtered using an automated process where the chickens are hung upside down on an overhead conveyor, stunned by immersing their heads in a tank of electrified water, then the heads are cut off with a circular saw. This automated method of slaughter was designed to de-skill and reduce costs more than anything else because all it requires is ONE unskilled labourer to load the chickens onto the conveyor whereas slaughtering the same number of chickens an hour with a knife requires several skilled slaughtermen. Therefore electric stunning is a win-win situation for the management and the consumer.

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A question I ask proponents of electric stunning of animals prior to slaughter is whether they have received an electric shock powerful enough to stun (but obviously not kill) them or cause significant involuntary muscle contraction. As an electronic engineer by trade I have experienced several high voltage electric shocks, and believe me, they hurt. Therefore, I question whether the proponents of electric stunning really know what they are talking about or whether the argument boils down to ‘British’ vs foreign culture more than animal welfare.

 

Electric stunning was implemented during the early 20th century as a means to reduce costs and increase efficiency in slaughterhouses rather than as a method that was more humane. Most people didn't care about animal welfare back then. They just wanted cheap cuts of meat on their plates.

 

The most extreme contrast between halal slaughtering and electric stunning is chickens slaughtered using an automated process where the chickens are hung upside down on an overhead conveyor, stunned by immersing their heads in a tank of electrified water, then the heads are cut off with a circular saw. This automated method of slaughter was designed to de-skill and reduce costs more than anything else because all it requires is ONE unskilled labourer to load the chickens onto the conveyor whereas slaughtering the same number of chickens an hour with a knife requires several skilled slaughtermen. Therefore electric stunning is a win-win situation for the management and the consumer.

Thanks for that information, I have often wondered how the stunning of animals can be painless for them getting electrocuted how can that be anything but painful but without the insight you don't always actually realise.

I can well believe it was introduced to increase productivity and cut back on the labour that sounds typical of the slaughter industry.

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As far as I know it's only poultry that get electrocuted (in theory that is). Larger animals are pre-stunned with a captive-bolt pistol. What a horrific job it must be working in a slaughter house. All so unnecessary. :(

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As far as I know it's only poultry that get electrocuted (in theory that is). Larger animals are pre-stunned with a captive-bolt pistol. What a horrific job it must be working in a slaughter house. All so unnecessary. :(

I couldn't work in a slaughter house just the word makes me feel awful, how does this captive bolt pistol supposedly stun an animal without pain do you know. I've seen a program on footage taken in secret in a slaughter house and it was horrific including how they beat animals to get them inside its sick really sick.

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All slaughterhouses are revolting places that stink like hell and everything is covered in blood. I have seen numerous slaughterhouses and meat factories in real life. One in Uzbekistan built in the days of the communist Soviet Union was particularly disgusting. It made me wonder what animal welfare was really like in the communist world behind the iron curtain.

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All slaughterhouses are revolting places that stink like hell and everything is covered in blood. I have seen numerous slaughterhouses and meat factories in real life. One in Uzbekistan built in the days of the communist Soviet Union was particularly disgusting. It made me wonder what animal welfare was really like in the communist world behind the iron curtain.

They have very little consideration of human rights if what is reported is correct so I doubt whether there is much concern about animals and people would be unlikely to challenge the communist party on animal rights, there's disturbances and civil unrest in certain parts and wars so I expect the conditions that animals are kept in and treated are particularly bad there.

Being human makes you feel ashamed sometimes how we treat other living beings.

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