Millions of animals are suffering unnecessarily by being slaughtered without stunning to meet religious demands.
That's why we campaign to end religious exemptions to animal welfare laws.
Animal welfare law requires animals to be stunned before slaughter to minimise their pain, suffering and distress. The only exemption is for Jewish and Muslim communities to meet kosher and halal religious dietary preferences.
The scientific consensus is clear that it is more humane to stun an animal prior to slaughter. The slaughter of animals without pre-stunning is permitted in the UK despite a recommendation by the government's own advisory body, the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC), that the practice should be banned. FAWC concluded that animals slaughtered without pre-stunning are likely to experience "very significant pain and distress".
RSPCA, Compassion in World Farming and the British Veterinary Association all support an end to non-stun slaughter to improve animal welfare at the time of death.
- 70% of Brits think stunning animals before slaughtering them is more ethical.
- 72% of the population think food produced from religious non-stun slaughter methods should be clearly labelled.
We support the right to religious freedom. But this is not an absolute right. Religious exemptions shouldn't be made to laws meant to prevent unnecessary animal cruelty.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Ask your MP to end the religious exemption that allows animals to be slaughtered without pre-stunning.
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
3. Join the National Secular Society
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
EU advisor says meat from unstunned animals can be labelled organic
Posted: Fri, 21 Sep 2018 11:56
The National Secular Society has criticised a "perplexing" opinion from an EU advisor that meat from non-stun slaughter can be considered 'organic'.
On Thursday an EU magistrate said that halal and kosher meat can be labelled 'organic' despite rules which suggest the meat should be refused the label on animal welfare grounds.
Advocate general Nils Wahl issued an opinion that the 'organic farming' certification "cannot be refused to products from the slaughter of animals without stunning".
European Council regulations require "the application of high animal welfare standards" for products to be labelled organic. The regulations also say "any suffering, including mutilation, shall be kept to a minimum during the entire life of the animal, including at the time of slaughter".
But an adviser to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) found that this legislation "does not precisely define the procedures that allow the suffering of animals to be kept at a minimum at the time of killing".
The advocate general determined that these regulations must be read in conjunction with Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which allows for exceptions to be made for "religious rites" in animal welfare legislation in EU member states.
He said animal welfare rules were subject to "two regimes", one of which was "exceptional" and based on religion.
"All in all, two regimes of animal welfare protection exist side by side: the general regime, which requires pre-stunning, and the exceptional regime (based on the desire to allow, on religious grounds, slaughter without stunning)."
It added that those involved in slaughter must "take necessary measures" to avoid suffering "within each of those regimes".
The case was brought by the French animal welfare group Oeuvre d'Assistance aux Betes d'Abattoirs (OABA). OABA has lobbied France's minister for agriculture to drop the 'organic farming' label from beef products from cattle slaughtered without pre-stunning.
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans called the opinion "perplexing".
"The advocate general appears to have turned a blind eye to the regulations in order to appease the religious slaughter industry," he said.
"If the EU's definition of organic precludes the use of slaughter methods that cause unnecessary pain and distress, non-stun slaughter cannot, by definition, be organic.
"It is plain that this advice threatens to erode animal welfare standards across the EU, as well as consumer confidence in organic labelling."
Veterinarians and other animal welfare experts agree it is more humane to stun an animal prior to slaughter than not to. The EU's Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW) has stated that "due to the serious animal welfare concerns associated with slaughter without stunning, pre-cut stunning should always be performed".
But some countries in the EU, including the UK, grant exemptions from animal welfare law to Muslim and Jewish communities, allowing animals to be slaughtered for halal or kosher products without pre-stunning.
In May the NSS criticised two senior EU politicians, Antonio Tajani and Frans Timmermans, after they said they would oppose legislation that restricted religious animal slaughter.
NSS criticises government over sale of non-stun meat to Saudi Arabia
Posted: Wed, 22 Aug 2018 12:17
The National Secular Society has said a government agreement to sell meat from lambs slaughtered without stunning to Saudi Arabia will "normalise the mistreatment of animals".
According to Vet Record magazine, the Halal Monitoring Committee (HMC) will certify meat sold to Saudi as part of a £25m deal announced in February. HMC refuses to certify meat as halal when it has been stunned before slaughter.
The deal, which was initially announced by food minister George Eustice, brings a 20-year embargo on lamb exports to Saudi Arabia to an end. It has only now emerged that the meat will not be stunned.
NSS campaigns officer Megan Manson said the deal would "empower a group which undermines animal welfare in Britain and normalise the mistreatment of animals".
"The government shouldn't be selling millions of pounds' worth of meat from animals treated inhumanely in the name of religion. Nor should the Halal Monitoring Committee's fundamentalist interpretation of what constitutes halal meat play any part in government decisions.
"Animal welfare laws exist for a reason. If they are important enough for some to follow, they must be important enough for all to follow. Instead of striking deals like this the government should roll back the religious exemption to animal welfare laws so veterinary experts, not religious groups, set the standard on the treatment of farm animals."
Most halal meat in the UK is stunned before slaughter but NSS research has revealed that non-stunned halal is widespread in UK supermarkets.
In November the government told the NSS it was considering introducing labelling requirements to ensure consumers know whether halal or kosher meat has been stunned before slaughter. The NSS welcomed the move but called on the government to end the religious exemption to animal welfare laws.
Animal welfare groups have also criticised the deal with Saudi Arabia. Marc Cooper, the head of the RSPCA's farm animal department, called it "very disappointing news" and said the government should "follow other European nations and ban the export of meat from non-stunned animals".
The Liberal Democrats' food spokesperson Tim Farron said the government had shown "extreme negligence" in agreeing the deal.
"We have a responsibility to push forward the global animal welfare agenda, by ensuring farm animals are treated as humanely as possible and paying full regard to standards when establishing trade deals.
"This does not bode well, as post-Brexit the UK will inevitably receive pressure from new trading partners to open markets to low-welfare animal products."
The RSPCA, Compassion in World Farming and the British Veterinary Association have all criticised non-stun slaughter, along with many animal welfare experts. The Farm Animal Welfare Council – a UK government body – has said the practice should be banned. The EU's Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Welfare has said "pre-cut stunning should always be performed".
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has said the deal was not "a move to increase sales of non-stun meat" and denied it will lead to animal welfare standards being "watered down".
Meanwhile Labour MP Kerry McCarthy, a former shadow environment secretary, criticised the deal but implied support for the religious exemption when meat is consumed domestically. "The exemption is clearly there to meet the needs of our own religious communities, not those abroad," she said.
