Slaughtering without Stunning in Hokkaido

In February, 2014, the Danish Agriculture Minister, Dan Jorgensen, made the following comment about banning slaughtering without stunning,

“Animal rights come before religion.”

Workers following certain religious customs, for example, those connected to Islamic Halal and Jewish Kashrut practices, slaughter animals without first stunning them. The cutting of the carotid arteries causes extreme pain to animals that have not been stunned. Some people in Japan are slaughtering animals according to Islamic halal traditions. This practice might start in Hokkaido.

During the prefectural assembly held on September 16, in the reply to the question given from Atuko Okoshi (a member of the Liberal Democratic Party of Hokkaido Prefectual Assembly), the governor of Hokkaido, Harumi Takahashi, explicitly expressed his plan to begin slaughtering cows in accordance with Islamic laws in order to export the beef to Dubai (Hokkaido Newspaper, September 16, 2015).

Governor Takahashi wants Hokkaido meat plants and their products to receive the certification which guarantees that Islamic religious guidelines for the slaughter and processing of meat have been followed. The certified meat will be able to be exported to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The governor’s plan includes promoting Hokkaido beef dishes in Dubai. The governor stated that after a trial export, he wants to consider the intermittent export of Hokkaido beef. He expressed his intention to visit Dubai in October to promote Hokkaido food products and expand sales to neighboring states. Takahashi ran the last election with a campaign pledge that promised he would bring in 100 billion yen from the export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products, and other food produce from Hokkaido. According to the Hokkaido government, the products of some livestock production facilities and private related business institutions were officially certified by a halal authority within Japan in August. The procedure for obtaining halal certification from the UAE government is in a state of process. After UAE government officials inspect the Hokkaido slaughter facilities and products, they are expected to be registered as halal certified facilities. None of these may contain pork. The Hokkaido government shall bear the costs of the procedure.

September 29, 2015

We have inquired about this matter to the food related industry office of the Hokkaido government and found that the trial export has been officially decided but the UAE certification has not been obtained. The Animal Rights Center requested the officers to reconsider exporting beef to Dubai and to take animal welfare into account. We strongly ask you to express your consideration of this matter. It is important to give at least minimum consideration to all animals. The Hokkaido government must negotiate with the Dubai government so that the animals will be slaughtered after being stunned.
http://www.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/toiawase/index.htm

June 2003, the British Government’s independent advisory body, the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) published its report.
The report states

“When a very large transverse incision is made across the neck, a number of vital tissues are transected including: skin, muscle, trachea [wind pipe], esophagus, carotid arteries, jugular veins, major nerve trunks (e.g. vagus and phrenic nerves) plus numerous minor nerves. Such a drastic cut will inevitably trigger a barrage of sensory information to the brain in a sensible (conscious) animal… such a massive injury would result in very significant pain and distress in the period before insensibility supervenes.”

A report issued by Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW) in 2004 says the following:

“The rapid decrease in blood pressure which follows the blood loss is readily detected by the conscious animal and elicits fear and panic. Poor welfare also results when conscious animals inhale blood because of bleeding into the trachea. Without stunning, the time between cutting through the major blood vessels and insensibility, as deduced from behavioral and brain response, is up to 20 seconds in sheep, up to 25 seconds in pigs, up to 2 minutes in cattle, up to 2 or more minutes in poultry…”

The results of scientific research conducted by veterinarians working for meat processing facilities and scientists are presented to validate that animals who are slaughtered without stunning unnecessarily suffer pain

The following organizations, and many other groups, support pre-stunning slaughter.

・The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA)
・This is one of the largest charities in the UK
・Meat & Livestock Australia

・British Veterinary Association (BVA)
・Federation of Veterinarians of Europe
・DIALREL