Should animals be stunned before slaughter?

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severus68 said:
In theory yes but in practice the Islamic slaughter I know of is not humane and the rules are not followed.
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Can you elaborate?

I know that in the UK there’s a massive problem with halal certification of meat and restaurants but I would think this is less of a problem in Muslim countries.
 
We have raised meat rabbits, and slaughter has always been a bit disturbing for me. That said, care can be taken to slaughter them without pain. With rabbits, one can slaughter and stun at the same time using a method that separates the brain from the spinal cord in one quick movement. Cranial nerves are intact, and it is clear from their eyes that life leaves at that moment. Stunning rabbits prior to slaughter creates more problems than it solves. IMO it is worse than a stun-slaughter method.

I have been present when a chicken was slaughtered, and beheading the chicken is entirely humane.

You would have to deny the Bible to say that people cannot eat meat. That said, we do owe animals kindness. It would be nice if a vegetarian diet were appropriate for everyone, but that’s simply not the case. I personally cannot tolerate the fiber levels in a vegetarian diet that would include a sufficient amount of protein at an affordable price. It gives me horrible cramps, and it would make me unable to work because I’d be in the bathroom half the day. I’ve tried it. God designed us to be omnivores. I personally don’t feel qualified to second guess His decision. But I do know, from raising meat animals and helping my Grandfather on his cattle ranch long ago, that animals are aware, and need our care and our kindness.
 
Bezant said:
Can you elaborate?

I know that in the UK there’s a massive problem with halal certification of meat and restaurants but I would think this is less of a problem in Muslim countries.
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You can see the videos/photos on the animal sacrifice for the recent Isalmic haj festival, for example. They were killed in the presence of others to be killed, they were not calmed.
 
mdleagedguy said:
We have raised meat rabbits, and slaughter has always been a bit disturbing for me. That said, care can be taken to slaughter them without pain. With rabbits, one can slaughter and stun at the same time using a method that separates the brain from the spinal cord in one quick movement. Cranial nerves are intact, and it is clear from their eyes that life leaves at that moment. Stunning rabbits prior to slaughter creates more problems than it solves. IMO it is worse than a stun-slaughter method.

I have been present when a chicken was slaughtered, and beheading the chicken is entirely humane.

You would have to deny the Bible to say that people cannot eat meat. That said, we do owe animals kindness. It would be nice if a vegetarian diet were appropriate for everyone, but that’s simply not the case. I personally cannot tolerate the fiber levels in a vegetarian diet that would include a sufficient amount of protein at an affordable price. It gives me horrible cramps, and it would make me unable to work because I’d be in the bathroom half the day. I’ve tried it. God designed us to be omnivores. I personally don’t feel qualified to second guess His decision. But I do know, from raising meat animals and helping my Grandfather on his cattle ranch long ago, that animals are aware, and need our care and our kindness.
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I do appreciate the fact that you support kindnesss and compassion to animals.

I am a vegetarian and it actually helped with my health. I do think it is easy to be vegetarian especially a lacto-ova vegetarian, it is a lot harder to be a vegan, something I would like to be.

In Genesis 1 on the creation of the world, allegorical that it is, before the Fall, all were vegan. I will leave it at that.
 
Holly3278 said:
I personally believe that they should be but that is just my own personal belief. I believe that we should strive to reduce the pain that animals experience when being slaughtered but we shouldn’t go to extremes in order to do this. We should use reasonable, economical, effective, and efficient means to at least try to reduce the pain that animals go through before being slaughtered for whatever reason.

Here is an excerpt from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I have highlighted certain parts of it which I think are the most relevant to this conversation:
Respect for the integrity of creation
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👍 One of the Best Posts I’ve seen in this entire Thread.

I have respect for all animals. However; when there are people who insistently try to put animals on some type of glorified pedestal making them greater than what God created them to be outside the confines of what is listed in the Catechism above…that really disturbs me.
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severus68 said:
So its ‘yuck’ to lab made actual meat where no animal needs to suffer but its not ‘yuck’ to meat obtained from causing an animal to suffer?
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Yes, because I don’t trust meat growing in a lab… But completely aside from that, animals are an essential part of our environment. They breed and we eat the extras - it’s the circle of life, and in case you haven’t noticed, animals eat each other too! and if you stop that it will eventually end life on earth. As other posters have said, if you don’t like it don’t eat meat - or just eat lab meat if you think it is an acceptable alternative. I’m going to continue eating it the way it has been eaten for at least 5 or 6 thousand years.
 
Neildown said:
Yes, because I don’t trust meat growing in a lab… But completely aside from that, animals are an essential part of our environment. They breed and we eat the extras - it’s the circle of life, and in case you haven’t noticed, animals eat each other too! and if you stop that it will eventually end life on earth. As other posters have said, if you don’t like it don’t eat meat - or just eat lab meat if you think it is an acceptable alternative. I’m going to continue eating it the way it has been eaten for at least 5 or 6 thousand years.
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You don’t trust lab meat? You do know what is in the meat you eat? Actually you would not know unless you eat organic.

Yes, some animals eat other animals but aren’t we humans with the God given superior intellect and made in the image of God? Why now compare ourselves to animals. Breeding animals for slaughter is not essential for our environment, it causes more problems than growing plant food.

Not telling you what to do. I do not eat meat and it is not a matter of taste.
 
meltzerboy said:
To my understanding, the ritual methods of animal slaughter according to kosher laws, which forbid stunning, have been improved in many slaughterhouses. There is still some abuse concerning the treatment and preparation of the animals before killing them. My own feeling about this is we should not kill animals at all for food and instead become vegetarians or vegans. I realize I won’t make many friends on the Forum with such a bold statement (and certainly not among employers/employees in the meat industry or hunters), but that is my view. Incidentally, there is a case for vegetarianism that has been made according to Torah teaching. For the purpose of full disclosure, I do eat chicken and fish (but not beef or pork) although rarely these days. However, I certainly do not condemn anyone who eats meat. I am not an animal activist, nor a member of PETA, just an animal lover.
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👍 We love animals, too. 🙂
 
severus68 said:
You don’t trust lab meat? You do know what is in the meat you eat? Actually you would not know unless you eat organic.
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I know that people who “grow” meat can put much worse things in it than than natural meat - vice versa too, but either way, growing meat is too artificial for me. You make it sound as if everyone would change their diets if they knew everything that was in their food. I still eat potato chips knowing that there’s cottonseed oil in many brands - not as often as as I used to now, but I still do.
severus68 said:
Yes, some animals eat other animals but aren’t we humans with the God given superior intellect and made in the image of God? Why now compare ourselves to animals. Breeding animals for slaughter is not essential for our environment, it causes more problems than growing plant food.
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My point is that it is the natural circle - I didn’t compare humanity to animals. We keep animal populations in check by killing and eating, which ironically ensures their survival as a species for the fact that they taste good - so we make sure we have lots of them. It is essential for humanity though. To be able to sustain our country’s food needs otherwise we would have to cultivate everything or have a ton of meat-growing laboratories.

As for slaughter-animals causing problems - I’m not sure about pigs, but people have actually been recycling chicken and cow manure for fertilizer, and also the latter for the methane it produces. It can be harnessed, concentrated, and sold to people/companies in need of methane gas. If this is an issue concerning global warming then I consider it an invalid argument, as we have not nearly reached the point where we need to worry about warming our planet.
severus68 said:
Not telling you what to do. I do not eat meat and it is not a matter of taste.
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I didn’t mean to imply that - I’m just saying that I’m never going to obey a law passed stating that I* can’t* eat real meat - I’ll honestly move to another country if that goes down. 😃 I am actually patriotic, but no one messes with my meals but God Himself.
 
Neildown said:
I know that people who “grow” meat can put much worse things in it than than natural meat - vice versa too, but either way, growing meat is too artificial for me. You make it sound as if everyone would change their diets if they knew everything that was in their food. I still eat potato chips knowing that there’s cottonseed oil in many brands - not as often as as I used to now, but I still do.

My point is that it is the natural circle - I didn’t compare humanity to animals. We keep animal populations in check by killing and eating, which ironically ensures their survival as a species for the fact that they taste good - so we make sure we have lots of them. It is essential for humanity though. To be able to sustain our country’s food needs otherwise we would have to cultivate everything or have a ton of meat-growing laboratories.

As for slaughter-animals causing problems - I’m not sure about pigs, but people have actually been recycling chicken and cow manure for fertilizer, and also the latter for the methane it produces. It can be harnessed, concentrated, and sold to people/companies in need of methane gas. If this is an issue concerning global warming then I consider it an invalid argument, as we have not nearly reached the point where we need to worry about warming our planet.

I didn’t mean to imply that - I’m just saying that I’m never going to obey a law passed stating that I* can’t* eat real meat - I’ll honestly move to another country if that goes down. 😃 I am actually patriotic, but no one messes with my meals but God Himself.
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I really do not want to get into a debate and be uncharitable so let us just agree to disagree please.

Just want to state a couple of things:

1] They have already created lab meat from animal cell like they grow skin and tissue for transplants on humans and are even trying more major things. There is no need for antibiotics etc;
  1. We should worry about climate change now. Even the Vatican has agreed on this.
 
**Yes, I think we should extend as much mercy to all animals as possible. I am learning more about Vegans and the vegetarian way of life. Meanwhile, cruelty to any living beings is hard to support. **
 
Kathryn_Ann said:
**Yes, I think we should extend as much mercy to all animals as possible. I am learning more about Vegans and the vegetarian way of life. Meanwhile, cruelty to any living beings is hard to support. **
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I agree. As humans made in the image of God, how could we ever support cruelty to other sentient beings who are also God’s creatures.
Have you joined the “Catholic Vegans and Vegetarians” group on CAF BTW?
 
severus68 said:
I really do not want to get into a debate and be uncharitable so let us just agree to disagree please.
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Ok, but that won’t keep me from replying to posts.
severus68 said:
Just want to state a couple of things:

1] They have already created lab meat from animal cell like they grow skin and tissue for transplants on humans and are even trying more major things. There is no need for antibiotics etc;
  1. We should worry about climate change now. Even the Vatican has agreed on this.
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1 - I’ve actually heard about that, and I have no problem with it - I’m just not eating lab-grown meat. It’s creepy.

2 - You may do so. The climate has been fluctuating since we were first capable of measuring the earth’s temperature. Since then there has only been an overall raise in average temperature that isn’t near noteworthy.
 
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