Humane slaughter - Gracey's Meat Hygiene - page 154

The efficiency of the process depends on the cutting of
both carotid arteries and both jugular veins. In contrast
with cattle, the vertebral artery is not involved in the
blood supply to the brain. The cutting of all four blood
vessels can be difficult to achieve in practice due to the
carotid arteries being close to the spine and the need not
to touch the spine with the knife which could render the
carcase unfit for kosher requirements.
This slaughter method can be considered to have
the advantage over conventional water bath electrical
stunning in that in this low throughput method the birds
are not shackled until they are dead.

a major consideration in both cases, and the eating of
dead animals, blood and swine is forbidden.
The actual method of slaughter is virtually the same
for both religions. The Quran describes the procedure
of carotid and jugular section as the 'cutting and
draining of blood'. The act of slaughter ( Al-Dhabh ) is
allowed in the name of God; therefore, pronouncing
the name of Allah is the usual practice. This is to
remind the slaughterer that he is taking the life of a
living creature.
Animals must not be slaughtered in the sight of other
beasts, and those to be killed are to be fed and watered
beforehand. The act of cutting the skin with a sharp knife
is regarded as painless, or almost so, and the rapid loss
of blood is said to produce instantaneous insensibility.
Just as defective methods may be used in stunning by
mechanical means so also can throat cutting be imper-
fectly performed with the result that not all four blood
vessels are severed. Islamic law demands that the animal
is alive at the time of slaughter and that it is slaughtered
in a humane manner. The Prophet Mohammed is
reported as saying that 'God who is blessed and exalted
has declared that everything should be done in a good
way; so when you kill, use a good method, and when you
cut an animal's throat, you should use a good method;
for each of you should sharpen his knife and give the ani-
mal as little pain as possible.
Unlike Shechita, the Muslim method of slaughter is
not controlled by a central board but is overseen by the
local Islamic authority who decides whether or not par-
ticular acts and thoughts conform to the tenets of
Islamic Law ( Shariah ). So in some instances, prior
stunning with electricity or captive bolt pistol is
allowed. (In New Zealand, a head-only stun of 0.5-
0.9 A for 3 seconds is performed for sheep and 2.5 A for
cattle, the major blood vessels being severed within 10
seconds of the stun.) Immediate post-cutting electrical
stunning is increasingly used a practice which is to be
encouraged. It is also understood that non-penetrative
concussive, stunning has been permitted in some quar-
ters. Provided it can be shown that the heart is still
beating after stunning, prior anaesthesia is approved, at
least in some instances.

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Slaughter of poultry without stunning
For slaughter without stunning, poultry are usually man-
ually restrained or confined to cones of appropriate size
before neck cutting.
Most chickens lose consciousness in 12-15 seconds,
but signs of consciousness are possible up to 26 seconds
after the cut (Barnett, Cronin and Scott, 2007). This is
similar to the mean time reported for loss of posture,
13.9 seconds.