USA: Halal Slaughter - Humane or Horrendous?

Recent allegations against a New Jersey slaughterhouse reveal harrowing descriptions of cattle being tortured at the Trenton Halal Meat Packing Co.

Trenton Patrol Officer Alexis Durlacher recently recounted witnessing cattle being deliberately crushed to death, bellowing in agony as their bones snapped.

Trenton City Council members hearing these accounts were shocked, but their response to this appalling cruelty has been less than reassuring. Neither the proposal to move the slaughterhouse beyond city limits nor the proposal to limit the length of time trucks full of animals may sit outside the slaughterhouse addresses the true problem of Trenton Halal Meat: animal cruelty.

Although the federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act requires that cattle and mammals be stunned prior to having their throats slit, it provides a glaring exception for religious slaughter. Hence, in halal slaughterhouses across the country, huge animals like cattle are shackled by one leg and hoisted into the air to have their throats slashed, absent any kind of stunning or painkillers.

Proponents of halal meat frequently claim that halal slaughter is more, not less, humane than conventional slaughter methods. While halal methods were indeed originally conceived thousands of years ago to provide food animals with a more humane death, it hardly qualifies as such today. Modern methods of rendering animals insensible to pain, when administered properly, can make the difference between a quicker, less painful death and one that leaves the animals screaming in agony.

The slaughterhouse operators deny any inhumane practices.

Source: USA: Halal Slaughter - Humane or Horrendous?
Author: Farm Sanctuary

Link: Be Kind to Animals
Link: Be Kind to Animals


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