How We Slaughter Animals for Food
There are several ways that animals are slaughtered for meat in the developed countries.
The usual commercial system performed in Australia and other Christian countries follows a standard for meat production that calls for all animals to be effectively stunned prior to slaughter. The Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) defines humane killing as: ‘an animal must be either killed instantly or rendered insensible to pain until death supervenes’. This means they must be stunned to unconsciousness before slaughter.
If there are further difficulties restraining the animal while cutting its throat, it must be stunned again and immediately. Cattle as opposed to sheep must also be stunned with a captive-bolt pistol immediately after the throat is cut as cattle have extra blood supply to the brain through the back of the neck and so have a slower loss of consciousness.
License is also given to the relevant state meat-inspection authority to approve an abattoir for ritual slaughter for the domestic market as a concession to the Jewish and Islamic communities.
The Kosher slaughter is performed for the Jewish people who request it as they are forbidden by their religious doctrines to consume blood. A specialist ritual slaughterer is employed to use a precise ritualistic method that minimizes pain to the animal that is killed without the use of undue force before the carcass is drained of blood. In Kosher slaughter, pre-slaughter stunning is not permitted. This concession is allowed in spite of the national regulation.
The RSPCA is believed to have concern that greater suffering may accompany ritual slaughtering because of increased restraint and injuries that are often caused as well as the pain of subsequent bleeding out.
During conventional poultry slaughter in Australia, birds are shackled upside down, stunned in an electrified water bath and then their throats are cut with an automatic blade but in Kosher methods pre-slaughter stunning is not permitted. (Another concession in the face of our national laws.)
The RSPCA policy on ritual slaughter is clear: cutting throats prior to stunning is inhumane and completely unnecessary. It is opposed to inhumane methods of killing, religious customs aside and continues to promote this view to governments and the public.
The Muslim methods of Halal food laws are founded in an interpretation of the Quran. It stipulates that before slaughter, prayers must be offered to Allah. It would seem that halal slaughter largely complies with the Australian standard and is used in export abattoirs. The only difference is that halal-slaughter uses a reversible, electrical stunning method, while conventional humane slaughter uses an irreversible or physical stunning method. But there are other types of halal slaughter that do not stun animals prior to slaughter. Cattle remain upright with head and body restrained and only stunned after the throat is cut in a method known as ‘sticking’, that causes great suffering.
The RSPCA policy on ritual slaughter is clear: It is opposed to inhumane methods of killing and believes sticking prior to stunning is inhumane and completely unnecessary, regardless of any religious customs.
It is up to us all to support the view of our RSPCA (Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and demonstrate our public disapproval of any deviation from the humane standards we have regulated in Australia.
In Australia as in other countries, CO2 stunning is employed on slaughtering pigs. The animals are herded into a chamber that is sealed and raised to 90% CO 2 that allows the pigs to become unconscious in seconds, followed by immediate slaughter. As with all methods of humane slaughter CO2 stunning must meet certain criteria designed to reduce fear and distress although results are not always consistent.
The same method is used with fish that are place in a bath heavily saturated with CO 2. Their movements cease after about 30 seconds and then the fish are bled and stunned immediately.
This article may serve as a reminder as to the extent we are all failing our Christian Commandment “thou shalt not kill”.
The RSPCA policy on ritual slaughter is clear: cutting throats prior to stunning is inhumane and completely unnecessary.
RSPCA remains opposed to inhumane methods of killing, religious customs aside, and continues to promote its view to governments and the public. It is up to us all to support our RSPCA and ten times more necessary to act if we believe that we are, as we may profess to be, animal lovers.
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