Thinking outside the box and beyond the slaughterhouse

Journal title ECONOMIA AGRO-ALIMENTARE
Author/s Massimiliano Borrello, Gianni Cicia, Luigi Cembalo
Publishing Year 2019 Issue 2019/1
Language English Pages 15 P. 153-167 File size 120 KB
DOI 10.3280/ECAG2019-001008
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

Islamic and Jewish laws forbid the stunning of animals before slaughtering, which is considered the least painful practice to kill farmed animals. The debate on ritual slaughtering has struggled over the years to conciliate the perspectives of religious and animal rights. However, this debate has disregarded to date that, whether animals are killed through laic or ritual slaughtering, they are farmed under industrial farm animal production (ifap) where their rights are often scarcely considered. Current point of view is a critical contribution to the debate on ritual slaughtering. Starting from current limitations of the debate as concerns its ethical and technical dimensions, the paper elaborates on the relevance that considering animal suffering under ifap would have in a more coherent debate. Our analysis highlights that despite the endeavour to select and regulate the best slaughtering method, animal conditions under ifap still represent the main challenge for the overall welfare of farmed animals. Thereby, beyond the conflict between animal and religious rights a latent problem of food choices exists, that involves both laic and religious communities. The paper suggests achieving a shared cultural and social acknowledgement of animal rights and finding solutions to spread extensive farming systems as the most urgent objectives to contribute to reducing the suffering of farmed animals.

Keywords: kosher, halal, animal welfare, intensive farming, industrial farming.

Jel codes: Q00; Q10; Q19

  1. Allen, M.W., Wilson, M., Ng, S.H., & Dunne, M. (2000). Values and beliefs of vegetarians and omnivores. The Journal of social psychology, 140(4), 405-422. DOI: 10.1080/00224540009600481
  2. Bager, F., Braggins, T.J., Devine, C.E., Graafhuis, A.E., Mellor, D.J., Tavener, A., & Upsdell, M.P. (1992). Onset of insensibility at slaughter in calves: effects of electroplectic seizure and exsanguination on spontaneous electrocortical activity and indices of cerebral metabolism. Research in Veterinary Science, 52(2), 162- 173. DOI: 10.1016/0034-5288(92)90005-M
  3. Barnett, J.L., Cronin, G.M., & Scott, P.C. (2007). Behavioural responses of poultry during kosher slaughter and their implications for the birds’ welfare. The Veterinary Record, 160(2), 45-49.
  4. Beardsworth, A.D., & Keil, E.T. (1991). Vegetarianism, veganism, and meat avoidance: Recent trends and findings. British Food Journal, 93(4), 19-24. DOI: 10.1108/00070709110
  5. Blokhuis, H.J., Keeling, L.J., Gavinelli, A., & Serratosa, J. (2008). Animal welfare’s impact on the food chain. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 19, S79-S87.
  6. Cembalo, L., Caracciolo, F., Lombardi, A., Del Giudice, T., Grunert, K.G., & Cicia, G. (2016). Determinants of Individual Attitudes Toward Animal Welfare-Friendly Food Products. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 29(2), 237-254.
  7. Cenci-Goga, B.T., Sechi, P., Cuccurese, A., Poeta, A., De Angelis, G., Marini, P., & Santori, P. (2013). Religious slaughter: Data from surveys and spot-check visits in Italy and animal welfare issues. Society & Animals, 21(5), 459-488.
  8. Council Directive 98/58/EC of 20 July 1998 concerning the protection of animals kept for farming purposes (1998). Official Journal, L 221, 08/08/1998 P. 0023- 0027.
  9. Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the Protection of Animals at the Time of Killing (2009). Official Journal of the European Union, L 303, 1-30.
  10. Craig, W.J. (2010). Nutrition concerns and health effects of vegetarian diets. Nutrition in Clinical Practice, 25(6), 613-620. DOI: 10.1177/0884533610385707
  11. Dawkins, M.S., & Layton, R. (2012). Breeding for better welfare: genetic goals for broiler chickens and their parents. Animal Welfare, 21, 147-155.
  12. Decreto legislativo 26 marzo 2001, n. 146 ≪Attuazione della direttiva 98/58/CE relativa alla protezione degli animali negli allevamenti≫ (Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 95 del 24 aprile 2001) modificato dalla legge 27 dicembre 2004, n. 306 – Gazzetta Ufficiale 27 dicembre 2004, n. 302.
  13. DeGrazia, D. (2003). Common morality, coherence, and the principles of biomedical ethics. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, 13(3), 219-230.
  14. de la Cruz, L., Gibson, T.J., Guerrero-Legarreta, I., Napolitano, F., Mora-Medina, P., & Mota-Rojas, D. (2018). The welfare of water buffaloes during the slaughter process: A review. Livestock Science, 212, 22-33.
  15. Grandin, T., & Shivley, C. (2015). How farm animals react and perceive stressful situations such as handling, restraint, and transport. Animals, 5(4), 1233-1251.
  16. Hackett, C.P., & Grim, B.J. (2012). The global religious landscape: A report on the size and distribution of the world’s major religious groups as of 2010. Pew Research Center, Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. -- Retrieved from www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/centers/jesinst/pdf/Grim-globalReligion-full.pdf.
  17. Harnad, S. (2016). Animal sentience: The other-minds problem. Animal Sentience: An Interdisciplinary Journal on Animal Feeling, 1(1), 1.
  18. Dresner, S.H., & Siegel, S. (1982). The Jewish dietary laws. U’d Syn Conservative Judaism.
  19. Eisenman, S.F. (2013). The Cry of Nature: Art and the Making of Animal Rights. Reaktion Books.
  20. Farouk, M.M., Al-Mazeedi, H.M., Sabow, A.B., Bekhit, A.E.D., Adeyemi, K.D., Sazili,
  21. A.Q., & Ghani, A. (2014). Halal and Kosher slaughter methods and meat quality: A review. Meat Science, 98(3), 505-519.
  22. Farouk, M.M., Regenstein, J.M., Pirie, M.R., Najm, R., Bekhit, A.E.D., & Knowles, S.O. (2015). Spiritual aspects of meat and nutritional security: Perspectives and responsibilities of the Abrahamic faiths. Food Research International, 76, 882-895.
  23. Foer, J.S. (2009). Eating animals. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
  24. Frey, U.J., & Pirscher, F. (2018). Willingness to pay and moral stance: The case of farm animal welfare in Germany. PloS one, 13(8), e0202193.
  25. Fuseini, A., Wotton, S.B., Hadley, P.J., & Knowles, T.G. (2017). The compatibility of modern slaughter techniques with halal slaughter: a review of the aspects of ‘modern’ slaughter methods that divide scholarly opinion within the Muslim community. Animal Welfare, 26(3), 301-310. DOI: 10.7120/09627286.26.3.301
  26. Grandin, T. (1980). Observations of cattle behavior applied to the design of cattlehandling facilities. Applied Animal Ethology, 6(1), 19-31. DOI: 10.1016/0304-3762(80)90091-7
  27. Grandin, T. (1994). Euthanasia and slaughter of livestock. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 204(9), 1354-1360.
  28. Grandin, T. (1998). Objective scoring of animal handling and stunning practices at slaughter plants. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 212, 36-40.
  29. Grandin, T. (2013). Making slaughterhouses more humane for cattle, pigs, and sheep. Annual Review of Animal Bioscences, 1(1), 491-512.
  30. Grandin, T., & Regenstein, J.M. (1994). Religious slaughter and animal welfare: a discussion for meat scientists. Meat Focus International, 3(1), 115-123.
  31. Julian, R.J. (2005). Production and growth related disorders and other metabolic diseases of poultry – a review. The Veterinary Journal, 169(3), 350-369.
  32. Kamins, M.A., & Marks, L.J. (1991). The perception of kosher as a third party certification claim in advertising for familiar and unfamiliar brands. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 19(3), 177-185. DOI: 10.1177/009207039101900303
  33. Lebwohl, M. (2016). A Call to Action: Psychological Harm in Slaughterhouse Workers. Yale Global Health Review. -- https://yaleglobalhealthreview.com/2016/01/25/a-call-to-action-psychological-harm-in-slaughterhouse-workers/.
  34. Miele, M. (2013). Religious slaughter: promoting a dialogue about the welfare of animals at time of killing. Society & Animals, 21(5), 421-424. DOI: 10.1163/15685306-12341308
  35. Murphy, K.N., & Kabasenche, W.P. (2018). Animal disenhancement in moral context. NanoEthics, 12(3), 225-236.
  36. Popescu, S., Borda, C., Diugan, E. A., Spinu, M., Groza, I.S., & Sandru, C.D. (2013). Dairy cows welfare quality in tie-stall housing system with or without access to exercise. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica, 55(1), 43. Rahman, S.A. (2017). Religion and Animal Welfare – An Islamic Perspective. Animals, 7(2), 11.
  37. Raj, A.B.M., & Gregory, N.G. (1995). Welfare implications of the gas stunning of pigs 1. Determination of aversion to the initial inhalation of carbon dioxide or argon. Animal welfare, 4(4), 273-280. DOI: 10.1016/S1090-0233(97)80067-6
  38. Regan, T. (1975). The moral basis of vegetarianism. Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 5(2), 181-214.
  39. Regenstein, J.M., & Grandin, T. (2002). Kosher and halal animal welfare standards. Institute of Food Technologists Religious and Ethnic Foods Division Newsletter, 5(1), 3-16.
  40. Regenstein, J.M., & Regenstein, C.E. (2010). Kosher Laws in Food Processing. Handbook of Poultry Science and Technology, 1, 131-181.
  41. Rollin, B.E. (2009). Veterinary ethics and production diseases. Animal Health Research Reviews, 10(2), 125-130.
  42. Rosenfeld, D.L., & Burrow, A.L. (2017). The unified model of vegetarian identity: A conceptual framework for understanding plant-based food choices. Appetite, 112, 78-95.
  43. Rossi, J., & Garner, S.A. (2014). Industrial farm animal production: A comprehensive moral critique. Journal of agricultural and environmental ethics, 27(3), 479-522.
  44. Ruby, M.B. (2012). Vegetarianism. A blossoming field of study. Appetite, 58(1), 141-150.
  45. Shields, S.J., & Raj, A.B.M. (2010). A critical review of electrical water-bath stun systems for poultry slaughter and recent developments in alternative technologies. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 13(4), 281-299. DOI: 10.1080/10888705.2010.507119
  46. Singer, P. (1980). Utilitarianism and vegetarianism. Philosophy & Public Affairs, 325-337.
  47. Singer, P. (2002). Animal Liberation. New York: Ecco Press.
  48. Tieman, M., & Hassan, F.H. (2015). Convergence of food systems: Kosher, Christian and Halal. British Food Journal, 117(9), 2313-2327. DOI: 10.1108/BFJ-02-2015-0058
  49. Velarde, A., Rodriguez, P., Dalmau, A., Fuentes, C., Llonch, P., Von Holleben, K.V., … & Cenci-Goga, B.T. (2014). Religious slaughter: Evaluation of current practices in selected countries. Meat science, 96(1), 278-287.
  50. Weaver, S.A., & Morris, M.C. (2004). Science, pigs, and politics: A New Zealand perspective on the phase-out of sow stalls. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 17(1), 51-66.
  51. Wolfson, D., & Sullivan, M. (2004). Foxes in the henhouse: Animals, agribusiness and the law: A modern American fable. In: C.R. Sunstein & M.C. Nussbaum (Eds.). Animal rights: Current debates and new directions (pp. 205-233). New York: Oxford University Press.
  52. Zivotofsky, A.Z. (2012). Government regulations of shechita (Jewish religious slaughter) in the twenty-first century: are they ethical?. Journal of agricultural and environmental ethics, 25(5), 747-763.

Massimiliano Borrello, Gianni Cicia, Luigi Cembalo, Thinking outside the box and beyond the slaughterhouse in "ECONOMIA AGRO-ALIMENTARE" 1/2019, pp 153-167, DOI: 10.3280/ECAG2019-001008