- a AgResearch Limited, Ruakura Research Centre, Private Bag 3123, Hamilton, New Zealand
- b Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA), 777 Busse Hwy, Park Ridge, IL 60068, USA
- c The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ), 7-11 Queens Drive, PO Box 14155, Wellington, New Zealand
- Received 22 January 2016, Revised 18 April 2016, Accepted 19 April 2016, Available online 20 April 2016
Highlights
- •
- Islam teaches zero-tolerance for any form of animal welfare abuse.
- •
- Harmony exists in the global Islamic and secular views regarding animal welfare.
- •
- Proponents are bogged down by their differing views on pre-slaughter stunning.
- •
- Thus, animal welfare abuses still occur during halal meat production.
- •
- Solutions include worker screening, education and empathy training among others.
Abstract
Islam
teaches zero-tolerance to all forms of animal abuse throughout the
halal meat production supply chain and demands that when animals are
slaughtered, they must be slaughtered in the mindful and attentive way
espoused by the Prophet Muhammad. Why then are poor practices and animal
welfare abuses still occurring during halal meat production, and how
can they be reduced or eliminated? In this review we discuss how
improvements might be achieved through: (1) training of staff regarding
the religious and regulatory requirements of animal welfare from on-farm
to slaughter; (2) empathy and compassion assessment of applicants prior
to employment; (3) installation of CCTV cameras around lairage and
slaughter sites; (4) regular employee follow-up training to minimise
‘compassion fatigue’; (5) incorporating animal welfare requirements in
halal certification; (6) using mosque-based sermons by Imams to increase
awareness of animal welfare issues; and (7) making portable humane
slaughter units available to small cottage operations and
home/neighbourhood-kills through mosque-based organizations/structures.
Keywords
- Animal welfare;
- Halal slaughter;
- Stunning;
- Empathy test;
- Sentience
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
