Cattle Slaughter

Cattle Slaughter is the term used to describe the killing and butchering of cows, usually for food purpose. Commonly it refers to killing and butchering of domestic livestock (tame animals).

The animals most commonly slaughtered for food are cattle (for beef and veal), water buffalo, sheep (for lamb and mutton), goats, pigs (for pork), horses (for horse meat), and fowl, largely chickens, turkeys, and ducks and increasingly fish from the aquaculture industry (fish farming).

Laws for Ritual Slaughter

Ritual slaughter of animals is also used for food production. Such slaughter is governed by various laws, most notably:

• Shechita: Jewish laws of slaughtering animals
• Dhabihah: Islamic law of slaughtering animals

Preparing livestock for Slaughter

At the time of slaughter, animals should be healthy and physiologically normal. Slaughter animals should be adequately rested.

They should be rested, preferably overnight, particularly if they have travelled for some times over long distances. However, pigs and poultry are usually slaughtered on arrival as time and distances travelled are relatively short and holding in pens is stressful for them.

Animals should be watered during holding and can be fed, if required. The holding period allows for injured and victimised animals to be identified and for sick animals to be quarantined.

When ready for slaughter, animals should be driven to the stunning area in a quiet and orderly manner without undue fuss and noise. Droving can be facilitated using flat canvass straps, rolled plastic or paper, and in the case of stubborn animals, prodders can be used occasionally.

Animals should never be beaten nor have their tails twisted. Animals should be led in single file into the stunning area where they can be held in appropriate restraining device(s) before stunning.

Restraint Devices

It is very important that slaughter animals should be properly restrained before stunning or bleeding. This is to ensure stability of the animal so that the stunning operation can be carried out accurately and properly. Different types of restraints are appropriate for different species:

Cattle

A stunning box is the most common method of restraining cattle. The size of the box should be just wide enough to prevent the animal from turning around, and so be difficult to stun. The floor of the box should be non-slip.

A simple neck crush used by farmers to restrain cattle for weighing is suitable for small-scale operations. Restraining tame cattle outside the stunning box by securing the head in a halter and then pulling the rope through a metal ring in a concrete floor is effective.

It is recommended that the operator should be positioned behind protective steel bars.

Religious or Ritual Slaughter (Halal and Kosher)

Most developed and many developing countries of the world require by law an animal to be rendered unconscious before it is slaughtered.

This is in order to ensure that the animal does not suffer pain during slaughter. However, exceptions are made for the Jewish (Kosher) and Muslim (Halal) slaughter of livestock. Here stunning generally is not allowed and the animal is bled directly using a sharp knife to cut the throat and sever the main blood vessels. This results in sudden and massive loss of blood with loss of consciousness and death.

However, many authorities consider that religious slaughter can be very unsatisfactory and that the animal may not be rendered unconscious and suffer considerable discomfort and pain in the slaughter process.

A number of factors must be given serious consideration before this type of slaughter is acceptable:

• Animals that are slaughtered according to Kosher or Halal requirements should be securely restrained, particularly the head and neck, before cutting the throat. Movement results in a poor cut, bad bleeding, slow loss of consciousness (if at all) and pain. This has serious implications for animal welfare. The knife that is used to cut the throat and the carotid and jugular blood vessels must be razor sharp and without blemishes and damage. This is to ensure a swift, smooth cut across the throat behind the jaw and to ensure immediate and maximum gush of blood. Poor bleeding causes slow loss of consciousness and reduces meat quality.
• Animals should not be shackled and hoisted before bleeding. This causes them severe discomfort and stress. Hoisting should be done only after the animal has lost consciousness Restraining equipment should be comfortable for the animal.
• Operator competence is of great importance in order to carry out satisfactory religious slaughter, and the authorities should license all slaughter personnel. A poor technique will result in great suffering and cruelty to the animal. Religious slaughter should be carried out paying attention to detail and ensuring the method, equipment and operators are correct. The slaughter process is slow.

The captive bolt gun is suitable for this stunning when using the mushroom shaped head of the bolt. The mushroom gun is an improvement on the plain bolt, as this bolt does not penetrate the brain and cause death. This should be more acceptable to the religious authorities, and its use would encourage more humane slaughter amongst Muslims in developing countries, thereby improving animal welfare.

Fortunately, many Muslim authorities accept some forms of pre-slaughter stunning. Many Muslim authorities permit electric stunning of cattle, sheep and poultry, whose meat is destined for Muslim communities, because the animals subjected to this stunning method would recover if no bleeding was carried out.

Electric stunning is also the method of choice in meat exporting countries where stunning of slaughter animals is required bylaw, for export to Muslim countries. Similarly, Muslim minorities in countries with stringent animal welfare regulations are allowed to use Halal slaughter methods, but in combination with electrical stunning.

Any kind of pre-stunning for livestock to be slaughtered according to the Jewish Kosher method has not yet been accepted.