ஹலால் முறை கொல்லுதல் மிருக சித்ரவதையா?

ஹலால் முறையில் மிருகங்களை கொல்லுவதை இந்துக்கள் விரும்புவதில்லை. அது மிருகத்தை சித்ரவதை செய்வது என்று கருதுகிறார்கள். பல இந்துக்கள் அப்படிப்பட்ட ஹலால் முறையில் கொல்லப்பட்ட ஆடு கோழியை சாப்பிடுவதில்லை.

ஆஸ்திரேலிய அரசாங்கம் ஹலால் முறையில் கொல்லுவது மிருகவதை தடுப்பு சட்டத்தின் கீழ் தடுக்கப்படக்கூடியதா என்று ஆராய இருக்கிறது.

இந்தியாவில் அந்த ஹலால் முறை கொல்லுதல் மிருக சித்ரவதையாக இருந்தாலும் அது தடுக்கப்பட முடியாது. ஏனெனில், விலங்குகளை சித்ரவதை செய்து கொல்லுவது சிறுபான்மையினர் உரிமையாக இருக்கிறது.

ஆஸ்திரேலியாவாவது இப்படிப்பட்ட விலங்கு சித்ரவதையை தடுக்கும் என்று விரும்புவோம்

Sheep killing branded cruel
Lorna Edwards
August 3, 2007

THE State Government will investigate whether a Warrnambool abattoir's religious slaughter of sheep breaches the state's animal cruelty laws.

Export abattoir Midfield Meats conducts slaughters for Middle Eastern markets by cutting the throats of sheep and allowing them to bleed to death while still conscious.

A special arrangement with the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service allows it to do this. The arrangement is believed to be longstanding.

Under the Australian standard for religious slaughters — both halal and kosher — the animal must be stunned by electric shock immediately before or after the throat is cut. This makes the animal unconscious.

However, there is scope for special arrangements for slaughter without stunning to be made.

The RSPCA has recently received a complaint about Midfield's practice. It describes ritual slaughter without any form of electrical stunning as barbaric and wants it stopped.

Midfield Meats is believed to be the only export abattoir regulated by AQIS to have a special arrangement to conduct ritual slaughter without stunning.

However, Primesafe, the state regulatory body for domestic abattoirs, confirmed there were three domestic abattoirs in Victoria that had similar special arrangements to kill without prior stunning.

The State Government's investigation comes as Midfield is seeking to expand the practice to cater for a large Israeli lamb contract. Midfield Meats managing director Colin McKenna declined to speak to The Age.

Victorian Minister for Agriculture Joe Helper said a Department of Primary Industries investigation would determine whether the abattoir's practices breached the state's Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

"The minister will ask his department to do what is necessary to assess these claims and recommend action by the relevant authority," the minister's spokeswoman said.

More humane variations of halal and kosher slaughter occur at other Australian abattoirs, where animals are rendered unconscious by electric stunning immediately before the throat is slit for halal meat, or immediately after for kosher meat.

However, some Middle Eastern markets will not accept meat as halal or kosher if any form of stunning is used.

The RSPCA yesterday said that AQIS had given it repeated assurances since 1989 that no religious ritual slaughter without stunning was being conducted anywhere in Australia.

"We were lied to and told although the federal minister had the power to make special arrangements, it had never been done," RSPCA president Hugh Wirth said.

"If this is now revealed as the truth, what else is going on and where?"

Dr Wirth said export dollars from the Middle East could not justify the inhumane slaughter of animals in Australia.

"If this is allowed, we will have a two-tiered system in Australia where it is OK to slaughter inhumanely for the Israeli and Middle East trade but Australians have got to have their animals killed humanely and that's ridiculous," he said.

It could take "considerable time" for a slaughtered animal to lose consciousness, when the blood supply to the brain ended, Dr Wirth said.

The federal Minister for Agriculture, Peter McGauran, said in a statement: "I am aware there has been some interest in supplying lamb to Israel and this would require ritual slaughter known as kosher slaughter. However, I am no aware of a formal application having been made."

His spokesman later confirmed that halal slaughter without stunning was taking place at Midfield Meats.

Dr Wirth said it was unacceptable to allow religion to override local animal cruelty laws.

What is halal and kosher slaughter?
The traditional method of ritual slaughter under the Jewish and Muslim religions requires that animals are killed by a single cut to the throat while conscious and then bleed to death. The dietary rules of these religions require that the animals are not injured before slaughter and therefore cannot be electrically stunned unconscious. It takes the animals from 14 seconds to a couple of minutes to die.

The Australian variation
Under the Australian standard for ritual slaughter, animals are killed for halal meat by having their throats slit after being electrically stunned unconscious. For kosher meat, the animal's throat is cut and then it is made unconscious. However, some export markets regard the stunning process as unacceptable. Ritual slaughter without stunning has been taking place in Australia under special arrangements with regulatory authorities.