Millions of animals are suffering unnecessarily by being slaughtered without stunning to meet religious demands.
That's why we campaign to end religious exemptions to animal welfare laws.
Animal welfare law requires animals to be stunned before slaughter to minimise their pain, suffering and distress. The only exemption is for Jewish and Muslim communities to meet kosher and halal religious dietary preferences.
The scientific consensus is clear that it is more humane to stun an animal prior to slaughter. The slaughter of animals without pre-stunning is permitted in the UK despite a recommendation by the government's own advisory body, the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC), that the practice should be banned. FAWC concluded that animals slaughtered without pre-stunning are likely to experience "very significant pain and distress".
RSPCA, Compassion in World Farming and the British Veterinary Association all support an end to non-stun slaughter to improve animal welfare at the time of death.
- 70% of Brits think stunning animals before slaughtering them is more ethical.
- 72% of the population think food produced from religious non-stun slaughter methods should be clearly labelled.
We support the right to religious freedom. But this is not an absolute right. Religious exemptions shouldn't be made to laws meant to prevent unnecessary animal cruelty.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Ask your MP to end the religious exemption that allows animals to be slaughtered without pre-stunning.
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
3. Join the National Secular Society
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
Belgium’s Walloon region to end slaughter of animals without pre-stunning
Posted: Thu, 11 May 2017 15:56
A committee of the Walloon Parliament has voted to ban the slaughter of animals without pre-stunning, a move welcomed by secularists and animal rights campaigners.
The Parliament's environment committee voted unanimously to end non-stun animal slaughter, following a recommendation by Piet Vanthemsche, a leading veterinary surgeon. The full parliament will vote on the proposal later this month.
If approved, the ban would come into effect in September 2019.
EU law requires animals to be "stunned (made unconscious) prior to killing, so that death should be painless."
In Belgium, as in the UK, the only exceptions to this requirement are for religious communities, in order to meet Jewish and Muslim religious requirements.
All kosher and some halal food is prepared without stunning of animals prior to slaughter.
The European Jewish Congress has reacted angrily to the decision and described it as "scandalous".
Dr Moshe Kantor, president of the congress, said, "We call on legislators to step back from the brink of the greatest assault on Jewish religious rights in Belgium since the Nazi occupation of the country in WWII.
He said that the decision "sends a terrible message to Jewish communities throughout our continent that Jews are unwanted."
Dr Kantor vowed to "not rest until this ban is overturned and Jews in Europe are able to practice their most basic religious rights."
Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns manager, said it was "disappointing to see religious leaders deploying such alarmist rhetoric in order to influence animal welfare policy.
"In 21st Century Europe, there's no good reason why animal welfare should be subservient to religious dietary rules. Requiring all animals to be effectively stunned before slaughter would remove unnecessary suffering – and is therefore the humane thing to do."
EU survey reveals clear support for labelling of meat from non-stunned animals
Posted: Tue, 9 Jun 2015 08:45
A survey by the European Commission has found widespread confusion over religious slaughter but clear support for labelling to indicate whether meat is from a pre-stunned animal.
The National Secular Society has reiterated its call for clearer labelling of meat, and ultimately for an end to the legal exemptions allowing religious slaughter of animals without prior stunning.
The report, on the stunning of animals before slaughter, found that 45% of respondents across the EU think were in favour of different labelling on meat from animals that were not pre-stunned. Just 23% thought similar labelling should be used on meat from stunned and non-stunned animals.
Although the survey found that "animal welfare at slaughter" was not a high criterion for consumers, when directly prompted 72% said they would be interested in "receiving information on the stunning of animals at slaughter when they buy meat."
Additionally, 48% of respondents said they would look for information on "how authorities check the rules on the protection of animals at slaughter".
Shechita UK, which lobbies on behalf of the Jewish community on religious slaughter, welcomed the report and claimed that "consumers see labelling as a peripheral issue". Unsurprisingly however, the survey found that "information on pre-slaughter stunning is not an important issue [to consumers] unless brought to their attention" at which point a large percentage had concerns.
The report also found significant distinctions in opinion between consumers in Western and Eastern Europe.
The report noted that "there is little accurate consumer understanding of the slaughter process". It argued that labelling on food, allowing consumers to choose between meat from stunned or non-stunned animals, would risk that "religious groups become stigmatised."
Just 1% said "religious consideration[s]" were their "main purchase criteria" when buying meat.
Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns manager, said: "Religious considerations should not undermine animal welfare and religious groups shouldn't be exempt from animal welfare laws.
"If non-stun slaughter is allowed to continue, clearer labelling on meat products would at least allow consumers to make informed choices. There is very clear support for more information, and the report points out that there is currently limited knowledge.
"To provide choice, and the information that an overwhelming number of respondents clearly want, labelling of meat should be clarified to let people know whether meat is from a pre-stunned animal or not. That doesn't 'stigmatise' anyone.
"The feelings of some religious believers are not more important than the need to allow people to make informed, ethical choices."
The John Blackwell, president of the British Veterinary Association (BVA), said that many people were unwittingly eating meat from animals that had suffered painful deaths because they had not been stunned. He said that failing to label unstunned meat "takes away the individual's right to make an informed decision".
Both the BVA and National Secular Society campaign for an end to the exemption allowing religious groups to slaughter animals without first stunning them.
