“We urge the chairman of the backbench business committee to honour the petition and pledge to debate an end to non-stun slaughter at the first opportunity in the next Parliament,” said BVA president John Blackwell
The petition hit 100,000 two months ahead of its March 30 close and only a handful of e-petitions (0.1%) ever achieve 100,000 signatures, says the BVA.
A 2013 UK Food Standards Authority sample survey of welfare practices at Britain’s 232 red meat slaughterhouses found a 31% increase in cattle not stunned before slaughter for Halal compared to 2011, and a 56% increase (from 28,734 to 44,950) of sheep and goats not stunned.
Meanwhile there was a decrease in kosher (Shechita or non-stunned slaughter) in cattle from 1314 to 475 (-66%), in sheep and goats from 1917 to 601 (-68%) and poultry from 71,236 to 21,716 (-69%).
The results indicate that overall the number of animals not stunned prior to slaughter in Great Britain accounted for 2% of cattle, 10% of sheep and goats, and 4% of poultry.
