Halal or Kosher chicken

[Whickerman]

In the practice of producing Halal or Kosher chicken, are the birds pre-stunned?

[mrs.chappie]

I once saw an undercover programme where the animals were being left for too long after stunning and a slaughterman was heard saying that the animals were starting to regain consciousness. They weren't re-stunned before the next stage in the process.

Another worker was heard saying the stun gun didn't work a lot of the time.

Someone once said "If slaughterhouses were made of glass, no-one would eat meat". I know what they mean.

Fortunately not all slaughterhouses are as unscrupulous as the one in the programme.

[237SJ]

I remember, as a child, going over to my friend`s house. Her family were farmers. Her father had killed some chickens for the local market. They were hanging upside down by their feet from the washing line and had had their throats slit. They looked like they were still struggling and her father asssured me they weren`t, it was just "the nerves". I didn`t believe him. I remember my father killing a pig in my gran`s field (it had pneumonia so had to be put down) by slitting it`s throat. There was no stunning involved. I think animals should be killed humanely (or not at all in an ideal world) but I don`t think stunning has been practiced that long in this country. If we didn`t stun animals 40 years ago, who`s to say it`s wrong for Muslims to do the same in this day and age?

[mrs.chappie]

A very emotive subject.

I truly don't know what to think. I have always leaned towards believing that stunning is the most humane method. My OH - who shares a strong concern for animal welfare with me - has a firm opinion that the halal method is actually kinder to the animal, as it will very quickly (within seconds?) lose consciousness due to loss of blood once its throat has been cut.

That link from j-t-p made interesting reading.

One thing we both agree on .... we could never work in an abattoir.