Kosher slaughter, or shechita as it is called in biblical Hebrew, is so humane that when performed as intended by Jewish law, the animals don't even feel the cut before dying.
Ritualistic slaughter
This method is painless, causes unconsciousness within two seconds, and is widely recognized as the most humane method of slaughter possible. Another advantage of shechitah is that ensures rapid, complete draining of the blood, which is also necessary to render the meat kosher.
The Differences Between Halal & Kosher Dietary Laws
Thus, while kosher meat is halal, halal meat is not kosher. However, the most notable variation in regards to the humane debate is their stance on pre-slaughter stunning. Kosher standards explicitly require animals be fully conscious and aware when killed.
Kosher slaughter is performed by a qualified butcher (known as a shochet) and involves continuous cutting of the esophagus and blood vessels using a special sharp chalef knife, with the length of the straight blade being at least twice the diameter of the animal's neck [11,12,13].
Torah law, however, is most insistent about not inflicting needless pain on animals and in emphasizing humane treatment of all living creatures. Kosher slaughter, shechita, involves cutting the trachea and esophagus with a sharp, flawless knife.
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).
The law states that, with few exceptions, all animals must be stunned before 'sticking' (neck cutting) is carried out. Sticking is when an animal's neck is cut, using a very sharp knife, to sever the major blood vessels in its neck and chest that supply the brain, ensuring rapid blood loss and therefore death.
While the most humane choice is always plant-based alternatives to slaughtered animals, most experts agree that kosher slaughter, when performed correctly, is at least as humane as pre-slaughter stunning.
But kosher-certifying authorities say that no form of stunning before slaughter is permissible, said Rabbi Menachem Genack, who oversees certification for the Orthodox Union, the world's largest kosher certifier. Some halal-certifying bodies agree, but others do allow nonpenetrative stunning before slaughter.
Thus, Muslims are not permitted to consume meat offered to other deities or by non-Muslims. An exception is made for animals slaughtered by Christian or Jewish butchers. In Islam, these cultures are among the “people of the Book,” followers of the same God.
Prohibition on mixing dairy products with meat
Others associate it with the general prohibition on certain mixtures set out in the Torah, such as that of coupling animals from different species. Yet others see it as symbolic: the refusal to mix life (milk) and death (meat).
Minimally painful and complete bleeding is required during halal slaughter, which is difficult to perform in large animals [69]. Previous researchers have indicated an association between the location of the cut and the onset of unconsciousness during slaughter without stunning, such as in halal slaughter.
Pork is a food taboo among Jews, Muslims, and some Christian denominations. Swine were prohibited in ancient Syria and Phoenicia, and the pig and its flesh represented a taboo observed, Strabo noted, at Comana in Pontus.
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.
Lambs are prey animals who normally suffer in silence, rather than drawing attention to themselves and attracting further harm, but these animals were treated so badly that they cried out in agony and fear.
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.
Kosher animals are ruminants, in other words they chew cud, and they have split hooves, such as sheep or cows. Pigs are not ruminants, so they are not kosher. Animals that live in water can only be eaten if they have fins and scales.
An animal needs to be alive at the time of Halal slaughter. Captive bolt (penetrative) stunning is unacceptable from a Halal perspective as an animal will not recover fully if slaughtering is not doneafter such stunning.
Chickens stunned before being slaughtered by the Halal method are hung upside-down by metal shackles around their legs and then pass through an electrified water-bath to be stunned before they are killed by a cut to the throat. A prayer is said before the bird's throat is cut.
Halal food is that which adheres to Islamic law, as defined in the Koran. 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.
The specific parts of the cow that are prohibited are the sciatic nerves and the blood. As the sciatic nerve occurs in the cow's hind quarters, it's easier to just sell the whole back end to a non-kosher butcher than to try and remove it.
The fundamental basis of slaughtering animals under Islam is to ensure blood is completely removed from the animal, the animal is not tortured, beaten, or maltreated, and is killed painlessly and quickly as possible.
“Apart from the physically dangerous employment conditions, the underlying violent nature of working in a slaughterhouse also poses a risk to the psychological well-being of employees and cases of cumulative trauma disorder have been reported.
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.
While carbon dioxide stunning is the most common method used in Australia and in Europe, electric stunning is also used in some facilities.