Australian laws require animals to be 'stunned' unconscious prior to having their throats cut. For cattle, this is normally done using a device called a 'captive bolt gun' which delivers a forceful strike to the forehead to induce unconsciousness.
After stunning, cows are hung by their legs on a pulley that moves them through the rest of the slaughter process. Their throats are cut and the major blood vessels in their neck are severed, and they die from blood loss — a method of killing called exsanguination.
Animals must be fully stunned—unconscious and insensible to pain—before they're shackled, strung up, and slaughtered. But so many animals remain alert to what's happening through to the very end. Animals must also be able to walk into the slaughterhouse on their own.
Most Halal animals are slaughtered by cutting the major blood vessels, i.e., carotid arteries and jugular veins along with the esophagus and trachea at the neck below the larynx to ensure rapid and complete blood loss.
Halal slaughter requires that the animal is killed from the throat cut and bleeding out process rather than the stunning method. Kosher slaughter has similar requirements, however in Australia does not currently accept reversible stunning methods.
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The object used to slaughter the animal should be sharp and used swiftly. The swift cutting of vessels of the neck disconnects the flow of blood to the nerves in the brain responsible for pain. Thus the animal does not feel pain.
Slaughter of large animals
Penetrating captive bolt - used on cattle, sheep and some pigs. A gun fires a metal bolt into the brain of the animal, causing it to lose consciousness immediately. Electrical - used on sheep, calves and pigs.
All Shechita (Jewish) and some Halal (Muslim) slaughter involves cutting the animal's throat without stunning them first.
Cow cries before slaughter. They sense their final destiny. Don't be a reason behind their suffering.
The most humane methods are those which cause a rapid loss of blood so that death is brought about as quickly as possible. These include ventral neck cuts (for poultry, sheep and goats) and chest sticking (for cattle, sheep, goats and pigs).
A firearm or a captive-bolt are both suitable methods for humanely killing adult cattle. The firearm should deliver at least the muzzle energy of a standard 0.22 magnum cartridge.
Slaughterhouse work has been associated with many negative effects on mental health, and workers have higher levels of depression and anxiety than other professions. Workers in Brazil report cognitive impairments, stress, and difficulty sleeping.
The sound of pigs screaming can be heard echoing throughout the walls of slaughterhouses and even factory farms. Their cries are loud and piercing: clear signs of distress.
Technically, per slaughterhouse guidelines, large animals like cows, pigs, and sheep are supposed to be killed slowly by loss of blood, or exsanguination. Because the cruelty of this is self-evident, regulations also require animals be "stunned" before having their throats slit.
Animal behaviorists have found that they interact in socially complex ways, developing friendships over time and sometimes holding grudges against other cows who treat them badly. These gentle giants mourn the deaths of and even separation from those they love, sometimes shedding tears over their loss.
Cattle slaughter
The slaughtering process is undertaken in two steps: 1) Stunning: The majority of cattle slaughtered in Japan undergo percussion stunning, which produces a physical shock to the brain to render an animal unconscious and eliminate all stress, pain, and discomfort (Ministry of the Environment, 1995).
In beef production, this results in calves for veal and beef production, and in dairy production, it results in lactation for the cow, heifers for replacement, as well as calves for veal production. However, in some cases, pregnant animals are slaughtered.
1. Forced fasting. To ensure there are no traces of food remaining in their digestive systems, the industry stops feeding animals up to 24 hours before they are sent to slaughter.
Mammals and birds also experience fear and pain, as well as being deprived of their lives. In many countries animals are supposed to be stunned first so they don't suffer, or at least suffer less, when they are killed. Animals in slaughterhouses also undergo terrible psychological suffering.
The Islamic form of slaughtering animals or poultry, dhabiha, involves killing through a cut to the jugular vein, carotid artery and windpipe. Animals must be alive and healthy at the time of slaughter and all blood is drained from the carcass.
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Strangely, even though duck is permitted by Islam, it is not as widely featured in its gastronomic offerings. Arabic recipes written in the medieval times suggest that this dietary pattern was established hundreds of years ago. “Most meat came from vast flocks of sheep…
Coles works closely with the certifier, Supreme Islamic Council for Halal Meats in Australia (SICHMA) to ensure that the entire supply chain is certified Halal.