Animal cruelty

I couldn’t agree more. It is barbaric and evil.

I truly believe that we have so much to learn about animals and their emotional e istence and their level of understanding of their world.

Pain is the only thing we do understand and yet we are willing to stand by and inflict this on a species that shares this planet. A planet that we are gradually destroying both for ourselves and those other species. We are disgusting.

It is many years since I had my small flock of sheep, but I was always very particular with regard to the lambs welfare and how they were killed.

We used a local abattoir, and would pre book a slot to ensure the lambs came out of the trailer and straight into the killing area, rather than being kept in holding pens awaiting their fate.

Completely agree, Rosina and Whitewave. This is an issue where, despite my best efforts, I start spitting fire about political correctness gone mad. The other is girls being groomed for paedophile gangs.

The animals we eat are mammals just like us with a similar hormonal and emotional make up. That they suffer like us is proven. I feel some satisfaction in a conversation I once had with a sensitive and compassionate farmer who explained that the terror badly slaughtered animals feel produces toxins in the meat which are passed on to those who eat them. He, like Phoenix, carefully and humanely slaughtered at home the few animals they kept for their own consumption.

shortly it will be law for all abbatoirs to have cctv in all areas at all times. Any abbatoir I have used has been small, local and very caring. Its the big boys that have a problem. the CCTV should sort this hideous behaviour.

I hate the idea of animals being slaughtered, the least we can do is to make it as humane as possible...........if people want to eat halal meat they must go and live where people have different rules.

I couldn't agree more, after all, animals can't complain, can they?

Animal cruelty in general seems to be getting worse, and dont get me started on the cruelty of asian countries, and the Chinese seem to be the worst ,skinning animals alive and throwing them alive into boiling water,
I try not to buy anything chinese, but sadly its very difficult, i always look at labels, and there are so many things made in China, and those kind of countries
As for abbatoirs, the sooner the better they get CCTV in
Also the poor animals being shipped abroad in crowded trucks, with no water or food,its disgusting,
So many things i wish could be stopped

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This is why I stopped eating meat!

wally ever heard of KOSHER ,very similar treatment to halal ...been happening in THIS country for centuries and NO ONE has uttered a complaint about it as far as I know .Now WHY is that? If we ban halal we must also ban kosher.I have been to a slaughterhouse and witnessed the procedure and no its not pleasant but while I was there it it was done swiftly and efficiently .While people still want to eat meat sadly its necessary to kill animals

Could not agree more, which is why I stopped eating meat years ago. Several posters have mentioned farmers who take note of how their animals are slaughtered, but I feel they must take a lot of the blame. Otherwise it would not take undercover reports to expose the barbarity of what is going on. They must know, equally they agree to live exports, currently the subject of a campaign. Halal slaughter is unnecessarily cruel and should be banned, but as usual money takes precedence. I think the current growing awareness and increase in popularity in veganism may affect sales so possibly increase welfare. I think working in slaughterhouses must damage the soul, this cruelty is not new.

"We are disgusting". That is an opinion, however, I don't feel I am "disgusting", Nor do I know anyone else I would term as "disgusting." Perhaps a tad strong?

Barbaric is a mild way of putting it.

Can anyone ever explain to me just how killing an animal as painfully as possible can make it "acceptable" and "holy" enough for human consumption?

Keeping kosher is a choice with specific foods only available from specific outlets. If the reports that almost all livestock for human consumption in this country are now slaughtered to conform with Halal sensibilities this meat enters the food chain surreptitiously with no choice for those who don't agree with the practice.

What really upsets me is that we are all eating Halal meat without knowing it- it is in schools, hospitals, restaurants, supermarket ready meals etc.
I buy all my meat from a good local butchers who only buys from LOCAL farms & I save a fortune too as I only buy what I need & not a pack of meat plus his prices are less than supermarket. He can trace everyone of his animals back to the local farm & they are all humanely treated. I do not, however, know if where they end their days also deals in Halal meat. I'll ask him next week.
I was Veggie for 25 years so it is important to me to know that what I eat is suffering as little as possible.

As another poster has said, the reason why there isn't an outcry against kosher food is because kosher outlets are relatively few and the Jewish community have never had the same insistence upon its necessity that the Muslim community have for halal.
I have quite a few Jewish friends who don't seem to bother beyond not eating pork or shellfish etc. But many people love to twist one's argument, to level accusations of racism and bigotry etc.
The only way to fight this is for more and more of us to stop buying our meat at the supermarket. Use local butchers and always ask the question, "has this been ritually slaughtered?" Because many times animals are slaughtered in a ritual manner and then declared not halal by means of someone finding that pigs have been slaughtered in the same abattoir or some such and so that meat enters the food chain as, "non halal" .
If more of us who care do this and continue to lobby our MPs then eventually we might get through.
Personally I don't think I could ever become totally vegetarian but I have certainly eaten far more vegetarian meals since I discovered this abomination. I now only buy meat from local outlets who actually care about keeping their customers happy as their customer base is so much smaller. It works out more expensive, hence fewer meat based meals,but I'm healthier and have a reasonably clear conscience as a result.

I take exception to the post which singled out Islam as being responsiblefor this practice. The Jewish faith demands that meat be Kosher and a similar killing method to Halal is used. This practice has been going on in this country for a very long time and not a word of protest has been uttered - why single out Islam for criticism and not Judaism ? There are all kinds of moral, faith and political issues here, but what it comes down to is that this is a cruel and totally unnecessary method of killing sentient mammals and it should be stopped. Now. I’m all for tolerance of other faiths and cultures but we are supposed to be a nation of animal lovers - does this compassion only apply to animals we don’t eat ? We have laws in this country which are supposed to protect animals and these slaughter methods bend the rules to breaking point. If those of the Islamic or Jewish faiths wish to keep these traditions perhaps it’s time we insisted that the meat be imported from suitable sources so that this barbaric practice does not take place in this country.

Both the halal and kosher methods stipulate that the animal is killed with one quick stroke of a very sharp knife to minimalize suffering. The idea is that then, after killing, the blood is drained to prevent the flesh of the animal to detriorate very quickly. This was a method used by our ancestors also, before refrigeration. Get a grip. Or stop eating meat.

We’re kidding ourselves if we think there’s much difference between what happens in Halal or kosher slaughter and what happens in other slaughterhouses. Animals are always at the mercy of whoever is doing the slaughter and they always suffer. Animal Aid and other animal rights groups have uncovered terrible abuses in all places. We have no cause to feel morally superior.

I was going to add that halal, kosher, whatever, is preferable (if you can use that term when it comes to killing) to animals being stunned with electricity, then hung on hooks while still alive and cut up by electric saws. Which is the way that most of your supermarket special offers have met their end.

I just think it's truly horrendous how some farm animals are treated and how they are slaughtered.
I totally agree that animals are at the mercy of those who do the slaughtering and there is plenty of evidence to show that some people in the slaughterhouse are cruel and sadistic.

www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2018-01-22/why-chickens-are-dying-on-the-way-to-the-abattoir

Did you all miss this news this week?

Religious or tribal, neither has respect for animal life.
Man does not need meat to live. Maybe there would be less ill health in the world were we vegetarian and when you consider how we need to resort to chemicals to give the 'fat free' meat so many demand and yet obesity is seen to be on the increase, sadly, amongst children.

Why single out Halal slaughter? Abhorrent things happen in ‘ normal’ abbatoirs too. If you’re going to be against animal slaughter be against ALL of it not just one variety. FYI 84% of all animals slaughtered in the U.K. are pre-stunned and that includes halal slaughterhouses.
www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/slaughter