Thank you, PF for this thread- I'm feeling quite ignorant because I didn't even realise that slaughter without stunning the animals first was still happening in Australian abattoirs.

I thought that Muslims agreed with stunning before slaughter. So why is this happening?

It's very cruel practice and for no reason at all, ritual or not, should cutting throats of conscious animals be allowed in abattoirs in this country.

People who say that it is not cruel should really get some more information about it.

This APPEARS to be another cheap shot. Freediver was spot on. The average hunter slits throats the finish off game. It doesn't take long, and if you think the way Christian based society (which is your argument) do it is perfect and it's not stressful..."tell em he's dreaming".

No StG, this has nothing to do with ‘christian based society’. Why should our animal welfare standards be diminished in the name of any religion? What would you prefer, to die slowly in agony while you bleed to death, or bleed to death and know nothing of it? What reason is there for wanting these animals to be fully aware of the fact that they are dying?

“The average hunter slits throats the finish off game. It doesn't take long” Just how long was the animal suffering before this compassionate hunter even got to this stage StG?

My point is, we had procedures in place at abattiors to minimize the stress that an animal has to go through at slaughter, why should any of that be changed for the benefit of religious beliefs? I am not saying it was a perfect method but it is certainly better than what is happening to these poor animals in the name of same deity or custom.

The meat that we buy from Woolies is slaughtered in a very similar manner. The animal is stunned by an electric shock or a captive bolt...it is unconscious so does not feel any pain when it is actually slaughtered. It is hoisted then its throat is cut, the throat is cut so the blood is able to drain completely out of the carcass(exsanguination). The Muslim and jewish cultures believe that stunning the sheep hinders maximum bleed out....

If the blood is not drained completely from the carcass the quality of the meat can decline, it also affects the colour and taste so it is the only method for the correct slaughtering of an animal for meat consumption - the conventional method of 'stunning'before the slitting of its throat is obviously the more humane.

and I forgot to add....if the throat is cut correctly the animal should be dead within 15 secs.

Izzo,

Is it true that many animals get through the stun process and come out still conscious on the other side?

Just curious as I'm not overly concerned about the Halal style. I could be wrong, but I'm under the impression that keeping animal stress as low as possible is also part of Halal butchery.

The fact that America is allowed to export beef to Australia regardless of mad cow disease bothers me far more.