Proceeding a scheduled full Lancashire Council vote on a proposal that will limit the supply of Halal meat to school pupils, Shimon Cohen, Campaign Director for Shechita UK, issued the following statement:
“Lancashire County Council has come a long way from their initial motion last year, but the implication of the current proposal is still far from satisfactory based on the evidence presented to them. The Council plays on the perception that mechanical stunning is some kind of therapeutic, calm, relaxing, medicinal process which gently sends the animal into a woozy state of unconsciousness. The reality is that mechanical stunning methods are aggressive, invasive actions, designed to speed up the factories’ slaughter processes, with dubious animal welfare claims adopted by campaigns only years later. The fact that Lancashire County Council’s new proposal makes no effort to educate consumers on stunning methods, reveals their true motive behind this ban. We would urge Councillors to seek out the facts on this sensitive debate before deciding whether to support the proposal.”