June 9th 2025.
Members of Parliament (MPs) will hold a major debate on the practice of ritual slaughter – Kosher and Halal – on animals; as over 109,000 Brits signed a petition demanding better animal welfare at slaughter, along with a much clearer food labelling system informing the public on which slaughter method was used to produce their meat.
The debate is a direct result of a Government Petition for the public; which reads ‘In a modern society, we believe more consideration needs to be given to animal welfare, and how livestock is treated and culled. We believe that non-stun slaughter is barbaric and doesn’t fit with in with our culture and modern day values; and should be banned, as some EU nations have done’. Here is the link to the petition, WHICH IS NOW CLOSED – https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/700557
Halal slaughter does not stun the animal before it is killed – Photo Getty images.
In a landmark case, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that a BAN on the ritual slaughter of animals without prior stunning DOES NOT VIOLATE the ECHR. In other words, a ban could be imposed.
The court case considered that the protection of public morals, to which Article 9 of the Convention referred, was not indifferent to the living environment of individuals covered by its protection, and including animals.
A Government response issued on 10th January defended the current practice, arguing that ‘it would prefer to see all animals stunned before slaughter, but respecting the rights of Jews and Muslims to eat meat prepared in accordance with their own religious beliefs’.
Mr Rupert Lowe MP very recently tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament also calling for a ban on non-stun slaughter. he argued that there was a substantial body of veterinary evidence arguing that pre-stunning greatly reduces the amount of animal suffering at the time of slaughter.
He called on the Government to urgently review the legislative framework around non-stun slaughter; consider restricting or banning the practice, and introduce mandatory clear labelling of meat products by the method of slaughter used so that the public can make an informed choice.
A 2019 poll suggested that 83% of British adults believed the law should be changed to ensure that animals killed for food production ARE stunned before they are killed.
Additionally, 86% want all meat sold in the UK to be clearly labelled stating how the animal died.
Around 114 million animals are slaughtered each year in the UK using the Halal method; and around 2.1 million using the Kosher method. Although the polls taken in 2019 give impressive figures for the implementation of change, we suggest that despite this, the Government WILL NOT make legislative changes especially regarding religious minorities and their preferred methods of killing.
As to clear public meat labelling stating its slaughter method; why not ? – food labelling in many sectors has failed the consumer in being able to make an informed choice for decades. It is now time for change.
ASSOCIATED LINKS
World Animals Voice 