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
Muslim man who ritually slaughtered goats didn’t know it was against the law
Posted: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 12:00
A Somali refugee who improvised a halal abattoir in a private house where he killed four goats, has been sentenced to a 12 months in jail suspended for two years by an Irish court.
Rashid Kibaga pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed abattoir and cruelty to animals after he cut the throats of the four goats and allowed them to bleed to death in a house in Balloonagh, Tralee.
The police had been alerted to the incident by people living nearby who had heard the goats "screaming in pain". When they arrived, they found Rashid Kibaga and two other unidentified men who also lived at the Atlas House asylum seekers' hostel in Tralee.
Two of the animals had been skinned and another had been beheaded. The animal's head was lying on the ground near a number of knives and a large pool of blood. A fifth kid goat was found alive in a shed on the premises.
Animal welfare inspectors were called to the scene and took away the kid goat which was described as being in very poor condition. In their report they said that the goats "would have felt pain and been terrified" while being killed.
Mr Kibaga said that he had killed the animals in the ritual halal fashion not realising that it was against Irish law to treat animals like this. He had no previous criminal record.
Brian McInerny, acting for the defence, said that his client was a strict Muslim and this was the sort of thing he would have done all his life in Somalia. He had no idea it was illegal. He now accepts his actions were wrong and "apologises to the people of Ireland for offending them."
The judge in the case said that while he respected Mr Kibaga's religious beliefs, the law of the land had to be observed. He agreed with the defence barrister that a custodial sentence would not be necessary, even as a deterrent, as it was "unlikely that an outbreak of goat-slaying would break out in Tralee."
Poland votes to keep ban on religious slaughter
Posted: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 13:30
Despite pressure from religious groups and farmers, the Polish parliament has rejected a Government bill that would have lifted the ban on ritual slaughter of animals without pre-stunning. A religious exception to the rule was in place until January when it was overturned by a decision of the constitutional court.
The Government warned that the ban would have a drastic financial effect on the farming and meat industry, which drew large profits from exports of kosher and halal meat to Israel and the Middle East. It was these consideration that prompted the new proposals. Despite the country's dire economic state, the bill was rejected by 222 votes to 178 last Friday.
Large-scale protests on both sides of the debate were held in front of the Parliament building when the vote was taken. On one side were animal rights activists who argue the practice of ritual slaughter — which involves cutting the animal's throat while it is conscious and letting it bleed to death — is cruel, on the other side were the farmers who claimed their livelihoods were in danger.
Religious leaders were critical of the decision with Poland's chief rabbi claiming it infringed "the basic rights of the country's Jewish and Muslim populations, which will henceforth be forced to either buy more expensive imported meat, or endorse an enforced vegetarianism."
Despite the hundreds of millions of pounds it will cost the economy and the estimated loss of 6,000 jobs, the government says it will not try to bring the bill back to parliament.
The matter is likely now to be fought over in court. Already the Constitutional Tribunal has been asked to rule on whether the ban violates freedom of religion.
