title: The perception and acceptability of pre-slaughter and post-slaughter stunning for Halal production: The views of UK Islamic scholars and Halal consumers.
abstract: The importance of religious slaughter from economic, emotive and ethical viewpoints is significant. There are apparent economic benefits associated with trading in meats slaughtered according to religious traditions. Some religious authorities insist on the slaughter of animals without stunning, but this, according to many researchers, compromises animal welfare. We conducted a survey of Islamic scholars and Halal consumers, 66 scholars from 55 organisations and 314 consumers from 54 UK cities/towns were surveyed. Forty-nine scholars were interviewed through pre-arranged meetings, 17 surveyed online whilst all 314 consumers were either surveyed online or through the remote completion of copies of the questionnaire. Most of the scholars (>95%) (CI 86.9 to 98.4%) agreed that if an animal is stunned and then slaughtered by a Muslim and the method of stunning does not result in death, cause physical injury or obstruct bleed-out, the meat would be Halal and 53% (CI 47 to 58%) consumers also thought such meat would be Halal.
authors.affiliation: University of Bristol, School of Veterinary Science, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK. Electronic address: awalfus@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Awal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fuseini
authors.affiliation: University of Bristol, School of Veterinary Science, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK.
authors.forename: Steve B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Wotton
authors.affiliation: AHDB, Creech Castle, Taunton, Somerset TA1 2DX, UK.
authors.forename: Phil J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Hadley
authors.affiliation: University of Bristol, School of Veterinary Science, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK.
authors.forename: Toby G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Knowles
mesh_terms: D000003:Abattoirs; D000758:Anesthesia / Q000662:veterinary*; D000827:Animal Welfare; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D005511:Food Handling; D063427:Food Quality; D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam; D034561:Sheep, Domestic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: Animal welfare, Halal meat; Halal consumer; Halal slaughter; Islamic scholar; Stunning