[YWN Op-Ed by Shimon Cohen, Campaign Director of Shechita UK.] “Shechita is safe for you in the UK!” This is a remark I often hear from my American or Israeli peers. In Europe, as many readers know, Shechita is always under threat as it stands an exemption to the law requiring animals to be mechanically stunned before they are killed. Shockingly, in 2019, for example, in the Flanders region of Belgium, Shechita was banned. Indeed, across the continent, Shechita is exposed legislative attacks, with countries often hovering precariously close to banning Kosher meat production. One slip of the pen in any Bill could outlaw Shechita and establish a dangerous legal precedent that could ripple across Europe. The same, however, is true for us here in the UK as well. Like in Europe, the practice of Shechita is only allowed under a derogation of the law and so laws could be enacted which would make it banned or unviable. It remains a great irony that in the UK, our Shochtim are certified and regulated by both Jewish supervisory bodies and the government. So Shechita is entirely accountable, licensed, and vouched for by UK law but still not explicitly legal, existing only as an exception! Many prominent British organisations, ostensibly lobbying in the name of tzaar baalei chayyim, constantly and consistently oppose non-mechanically stunned slaughter and want to ban Shechita in the UK. The British Veterinary Association (BVA), RSPCA, and Compassion in World Farming, for example, have waged long-standing campaigns against us. Shechita is often painted by these groups as a crueller, inhumane alternative to mechanical stunning. Much of the general public have been swayed by these castigations, making our cause to protect and vouchsafe Kosher meat provision politically unpopular and difficult. Such understandings, however, are mistaken. Let us make no doubt about it, the entire lives of these animals’ matter, not just how they are slaughtered. For an animal to be considered kosher it must be healthy. Animals allocated for kosher meat are treated with care and respect, well above the industry norm. Any animal which is even slightly harmed or damaged ahead of the Shechita process is unfit to be eaten. The cows, lambs, and chickens that will eventually make it onto a Kosher table are raised on lower density farms, given access to the green outdoors, fed with higher quality food, and must be free from diseases. Yiddishkeit emphatically demands that no creature be subjected to any needless pain or abuse. Jews are commanded to limit the loads their animals can carry and before they partake of any meal, Jewish animal-owners must first feed their livestock. Reams of literature from Chazal until today, spanning millennia, strongly advocate for animal welfare. There is not a single major section of Halacha, I am told, where the principle of preventing pain to animals does not feature. Thus, the overall life of a kosher animal or bird is of a higher standard than many intensively farmed animals, whether they are mechanically stunned before death or not. Yiddishkeit demands so. Great care is taken to ensure that the animals are well-treated and calm before slaughter, as is mandated by Jewish law. The cut must be swift, smooth, and precise. Any animal or bird which is even slightly harmed prior or during the slaughter is […]
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