06/05/2026
I don’t like to bring political debates to Facebook however, following the footage of non stunned slaughter that has been circulated recently, I feel I need to speak out and ensure members of the public are fully informed. Currently in the UK non stun slaughter for religious reasons is completely legal, meaning that millions of animals a year are slaughtered fully conscious. This is a fact I was ignorant to until recently and the video I watched was highly disturbing. Non stun slaughter was at one time banned but this has been lifted.
When this issue was raised the government’s response was as follows:
“The government encourages the highest standards of animal welfare at slaughter and would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter. However, we respect the rights of Jews and Muslims to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs. The government therefore has no plans to ban slaughter without stunning.”
To avoid causing offence we have lowered our animal welfare standards. Much of this meat is unlabelled and sold in our supermarkets and restaurant. A nation of animal lovers have allowed our animal welfare standards to be lowered to avoid offence. This is not about religion. Nor is it about vegetarianism. We should have the highest welfare standards possible, maintained as a nation of animal lovers because modern practice allows slaughter to involve minimal suffering.
We go to great lengths to ensure our animals live happy healthy lives and we use a local trusted abattoir that does not allow this barbaric practice, but the same cannot be said for animals sold at market or sent to other abattoirs across the country. If this news has resonated with you please sign the petition regardless of whether you eat meat or not; the slaughter of animals for meat will continue and it’s up to us to insist that animals are protected during this process.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/762116?utm_id=97757_v0_s00_e0_tv2_a1demoo41437xd&fbclid=IwdGRjcARmlURjbGNrBGaVLmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHk5prrEK7SAUQTPykDLYIJhJlvKbjyd20pQJX8dvBq0J38n3YI7CTk2nygxN_aem_CmcpSk00_Ow8J5oTFMJfUA
Religious slaughter may require the animal to be slaughtered whilst alive, which is in line with their religious beliefs. In relation to this, stunning needs to be recoverable. Normal slaughter uses a bolt gun that renders the animal brain dead and unable to regain consciousness.
