Free Range Halal chicken?

NIMI_2

get real! Herding animals into cattle waggons and transporting them to an abattoir, stunning them (perhaps) stringing them up and then finishing them off is much more humane. Isn't it?

Have you ever been to a 'western' abattoir, have you ever been to a 'halal' slaughterhouse?

Neither have I, but I have witnessed private halal style killings where the animal's throat was slit, on several occasions, and I saw no distress in the animal.
It is essential to use a very sharp knife and to stroke the animal to calm it before it is killed.
If you can't cope with that, then continue buying your meat in plastic packs from the supermarket, or become a vegetarian.

Fire_Fox

the_reallongshanks wrote: »

its more humane to stun the animal 1st, no?

Is it? What is humane or natural about any part of the way we treat animals from birth to death? It's battery farming that is cruel, the last seconds of their life are probably a blessing by comparison.

I have watched my father cut the heads off hens and rabbits (my childhood was semi self-sufficient) and later worked as a senior research technician alongside those who did the same with frogs and baby rats. Both my father and colleagues were of the firm opinion that killing the animal in familiar surroundings by cutting it's throat was far more humane than the alternatives. My father, an atheist Yorkshireman, would rather eat Halal than Tesco Value.

fruitcake_2

Getting back to the subject, I have also been looking at where to buy organic halal meat, as far as I am concerned the care of the animal prior to slaughter makes it "halal" aswell. Also halal meat will have much less blood, so will taste somewhat different if you are used to the blood adding to the flavour.


http://www.organic-halal-meat.com




((For the discussion board and those that want to know what Halal meat is))


OK so let's start at the very top - what is halal? and what is halal meat?

"Halal" is Arabic; the term is used to describe anything permissible under Islamic law (Sharia). This includes behaviour, speech, dress, conduct, manner and dietary laws.

In non-Arabic-speaking countries, the term is mostly used in the narrower context of dietary laws; what a Muslim can and can not eat.

So what makes meat halal?

The principles of halal can be split into 3 areas; 1) the actual slaughter, 2) the welfare of the animal and 3) the state of the slaughterer.

1) The Slaughter: The following procedures constitute the ideal procedure for slaughtering an animal%u2026

a) The animal is given a drink of water and is to be placed lying down facing Mecca
b) The animal must be calmed
c) The animal is not allowed to see other animals going to slaughter or being slaughtered and ideally not let to smell other animals' blood
d) The animal can at no time see the knife
e) The knife must be razor sharp
f) A prayer must be read and the intention to take the animal's life for the correct reasons must be made
g) The neck must be slit in one clean pull of the knife cutting through the skin and oesophagus right to the back of the neck
h) The animal must be held securely until all life has left it

These methods are used as they are believed to be the kindest and most effective way of slaughtering.

Mistymaid

Since I'm not religious Halal meat has no bearing on me. However humane treatment of the animal does.

Sorry to play a grey area here, but I've also seen animals slaughtered without stunning, and it can most certainly be barbaric and distressing for the animal as it takes quite a long time to die.

By the same token, I hold no truck with modern western methods either, particularly since the cutbacks on slaughterhouses and the mass transportation which can last many hundreds of miles.

If we are talking chicken, and I suppose we are, then I would much, much, rather pick it up, hand it to an experienced bird man who can dispatch it in seconds (literally, and no axe needed) than transport the poor sod hundreds of miles stuffed in a box.
But please don't confuse this with an inexperienced bird man (or woman) who can mess about for ages and never get the hang of the game.

However, would I like to see the throat slit on a goat again without stunning first - most certainly not. And Halal aside, I wouldn't condone anybody doing this. Yes, by all means slaughter the animal on the same premises it is used to, preferably with a bolt gun as it's starting to feed, but holding Halal up as the best alternative method of slaughter can be extremely misleading.