The perception and acceptability of pre-slaughter and post-slaughter stunning for Halal production: The views of UK Islamic scholars and Halal consumers.

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 pre-arranged 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.

Halal stunning and slaughter: Criteria for the assessment of dead animals.

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 pre-slaughter 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 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.

A comparison of blood loss during the Halal slaughter of lambs following Traditional Religious Slaughter without stunning, Electric Head-Only Stunning and Post-Cut Electric Head-Only Stunning.

Blood lost at exsanguination during the Halal slaughter of lambs was compared between the slaughter methods of Traditional Religious Slaughter without stunning (TRS), Electric Head-Only Stunning (EHOS) and Post-Cut Electric Head-Only Stunning (PCEHOS). Two protocols were examined, Experimental (80 lambs) and Commercial (360 lambs), assessing varying periods of animal orientation during the 4 min bleeding process (upright orientation before vertical hanging). Live-weight, blood weight (Experimental only), carcass weights and by-product weights were recorded. The Experimental protocol highlighted an increase in blood loss at 60s in EHOS and PCEHOS compared to TRS (P<0.001) but by 90 s there was no significant difference. A post-slaughter change in animal orientation from an upright to a vertical hanging position aided the amount of blood loss. The bleeding of lambs is largely completed by 2 min. There were no significant differences (P>0.05) in final blood loss between treatments. This research was undertaken to inform discussion on the merits of different slaughter methods compatible with Halal requirements.