Stunning and animal welfare from Islamic and scientific perspectives

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Date
2013Author
Nakyinsige, K.
Che Man, Y.B.
Aghwan, Zeiad A.
Zulkifli, I.
Goh, Y.M.
Abu Bakar, F.
Al-Kahtani, H.A.
Sazili, A.Q.
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The transformation of an animal into pieces fit for human consumption is a very important operation. Rather
than argue about halal slaughter without stunning being inhumane or stunning being controversial from the
Islamic point of view, we discuss slaughter, stunning and animal welfare considering both Islamic and animal
welfare legislation requirements. With the world Muslim population close to two billion, the provision of halal
meat for theMuslim community is important both ethically and economically.However, fromthe animalwelfare
standard point of view, a number of issues have been raised about halal slaughterwithout stunning, particularly,
about stressful methods of restraint and the latency of the onset of unconsciousness. This paper sets out to, discuss
themethods of stunning that are acceptable by Islamic authorities, highlight the requirements for stunning
to be acceptable in Islam and suggest practical ways to improve the humanness of slaughter.