I read with interest Andy Coghlan's article on recent research
findings about the pain experienced by animals when slaughtered
without stunning (17 October, p 11). I head a project in Europe
called Dialrel, which aims to improve welfare at slaughter by
finding more common ground between what science tells us about
slaughter and what procedures are found acceptable by religious
traditions. We know that both Muslim and Jewish authorities are
concerned about the welfare of animals at the time of slaughter;
however many of them interpret the practice of stunning as
incompatible with their religion. Reaching compromise is
complex. Wide variations in slaughtering practice already exist
within faiths: for example, the majority of halal food in the UK
is obtained from animals that have been stunned before
slaughter. As part of the Dialrel project, we have conducted
spot visits in slaughterhouses in several countries in the
European ... To continue reading this article, subscribe to
receive access to all of newscienti