Extract from Lords debate on Agriculture, Fisheries and the Rural Environment - Nov 2
Friday, 3 November 2017 06:29
The Earl of Shrewsbury (Con):...Galloping on—I am going as fast as
I can—my final point concerns ritual slaughter. I have no
difficulty with ritual slaughter if the animal has been
pre-stunned, but I have a very strong objection to it if there is
no stunning. I cannot for the life of me understand why there can
possibly be any objection to pre-stunning. It is inhumane not to do
so. Every vet with whom I have ever spoken supports pre-stunning
and objects to not doing so. The...Request free trial
The Earl of Shrewsbury (Con):...Galloping on—I am
going as fast as I can—my final point concerns ritual slaughter. I have no difficulty
with ritual
slaughter if the animal has been pre-stunned, but I
have a very strong objection to it if there is no stunning. I
cannot for the life of me understand why there can possibly be any
objection to pre-stunning. It is inhumane not to do so. Every vet
with whom I have ever spoken supports pre-stunning and objects to
not doing so. The NFU would seem to support no action, as we as a
country are exporters of sheepmeat products to those throughout
Europe and further afield who require ritual slaughter through their religious
views. But this is a serious animal welfare problem and, in my
view, completely unacceptable. If my local abattoir in
Staffordshire can conduct ritual
slaughter for the halal trade by pre-stunning every
animal, surely the whole industry could follow that example. It is
very much with this in view that I support the Government’s
initiative to place CCTV in abattoirs—well done them. Now with
Brexit approaching fast and a new policy for agriculture on the
stocks, let us get something done about non-stunned ritual
slaughter. This country leads the world in animal welfare.
Let us prove it and show what we can do by grasping the
nettle...
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