12 November 2010

Halal meat is being served in schools, hospitals and pubs - even though vets say Islamic slaughter is cruel

.... The main difference here, though, is that this abattoir produces halal meat, in accordance with strict Islamic guidelines. Put simply, this means the animals killed here are not stunned with an electrical current — as they are at ­conventional slaughterhouses — to render them unconscious before they are dispatched.

Instead, they are fully conscious as their throats are slit by a slaughterman as he utters prayers to Allah to ‘bless’ the animal. The ­creature then bleeds to death in a process that can take more than 30 seconds.

Killing an animal by cutting its throat without stunning is, in fact, ­illegal in this country. ­However, there is a legal loophole allowing this if it is being done for religious reasons — in other words, for the production of halal or kosher meat. [MailOnline] Read more