(Con):...I emphasise that I too respect the needs of our
multicultural society in the UK. If, as the Minister stated, it is
our policy to prefer that animals are stunned prior to slaughter,
as long as enough animals are killed in accordance for UK halal and
kosherconsumption, I see no reason for the
Government not to accept this amendment regarding export.
Indeed, the RSPCA and Compassion in World Farming have
highlighted that more animals than are needed are already killed
without stunning for UK halal and kosher
consumption so that they are more flexible for sale. Figures from
the Food Standards Agency indicate that in 2018 more than 94
million cattle, sheep and poultry were slaughtered without
stunning. In addition, a Food Standards Agency report last year
highlighted that 90,000 of the 2.9 million non-stunned animals
slaughtered for kosher-certified meat were
rejected as unfit for religious consumption and went into the
general market unlabelled. This needs to be addressed so that
there is equality of choice and those who would choose not to eat
meat from an animal killed without stunning can identify that
meat...
(LD) [V]:...This is one of a
series of amendments dealing with the export of live animals for
slaughter. At the heart of Judaism is animal welfare and the very
strict prohibition from causing harm to animals. The UK Jewish
community has often raised the issue of animal transport, as it
has serious concerns over both the length of time animals spend
in transport and the conditions they are kept in during the
journey. I stress that I know of no such exports from the UK for
the kosher food trade, so I have no
problem with Amendment 72...
Shechita—kosher killing—incorporates an
integral and irreversible stun by severing the anterior
structures of the neck with a rapid transverse incision using an
instrument of surgical sharpness. I could go on at greater length
about the methods but it is rather bloodthirsty, for the reasons
needed to kill an animal...
