Religious Slaughter of Animals

1. Religious Slaughterof Animals Joe M. Regenstein Professor Emeritus of Food Science Head: Cornell Kosher and Halal Food Initiative Member: AVMA Humane Slaughter Panel Member: FMI Animal Welfare Technical Committee Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853-7201, USA JMR9@cornell.edu April, 2019

3. What are my five core pillars of values: • Animal Welfare • Public Health (Human Health and Safety) [equity] • Environment and Sustainability [equity] • Impact on Workers (Labor) [equity] • Economic efficiency [equity] • Goal: “Good” food – scientifically, culturally and religiously appropriate with fairness to all (equity) and support of community and individuals

4. 7 U.S.C.A. § 1902. Humane methods: • No method of slaughtering or handling in connection with slaughtering shall be deemed to comply with the public policy of the United States unless it is humane. Either of the following two methods of slaughtering and handling are hereby found to be humane: • in the case of cattle, calves, horses, mules, sheep, swine, and other livestock, all animals [not poultry] are rendered insensible to pain [unconscious] by a single blow or gunshot or an electrical, chemical or other means that is rapid and effective, before being shackled, hoisted, thrown, cast, or cut; or

5. (b) by slaughtering in accordance with the ritual requirements of the Jewish faith or any other religious faith that prescribes a method of slaughter whereby the animal suffers loss of consciousness by anemia of the brain caused by the simultaneous and instantaneous severance of the carotid arteries with a sharp instrument and handling in connection with such slaughtering.

6. 7 U.S.C.A. § 1906. Exemption of ritual slaughter • Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit, abridge, or in any way hinder the religious freedom of any person or group. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, in order to protect freedom of religion, ritual slaughter and the handling or other preparation of livestock for ritual slaughter are exempted from the terms of this chapter. For the purposes of this section the term "ritual slaughter" means slaughter in accordance with section 1902(b) of this title. [THE CREATION OF THE “BUBBLE”]

7. Halal Stunning • For those who accept stunning. • Must be reversible • Must not kill any animals • How to assure reversible: Different sizes, dryness, hair-coat, etc. makes this difficult • Non-penetrating stunner: degree of skull cracking; photos available from Malaysia • Electrical stunning: Concern that the animal is not unconscious but immobilized (Humans: Response of some to electric shock therapy)

8. For cattle: • Penetrating stunner line speeds may reach ~385/hr • Kosher with post-slaughter (P-S) stunning: Line speeds (special Temple Grandin equipment) may reach 215/hr [limited acceptability of P-S stunning, not normative] • Kosher without post-slaughter stunning may reach 85/hr in a restraint box; ~100/hr with shackling and hoisting; and 55/hr with upside down box • Note: Shackling and hoisting is banned in Europe. Both Dr. Grandin and I support that decision. (Voluntarily eliminated for cattle in US)

9. It is important to understand that religious slaughter establishments in the US are required to meet all the humane handling regulatory requirements except for stunning prior to shackling, hoisting, throwing, cutting, or casting (i.e., only the so-called “slaughter bubble” is protected). • All animals must be unconscious before hanging and must have lost reflexes (e.g., eye roll and then the corneal reflex) prior to any dressing procedures. • For some forms of slaughter unconsciousness and loss of reflexes are two different stages

10. Unconscious and Insensible • Unconscious: No longer able to feel pain • With religious slaughter of animals it occurs due to the loss of blood • Practical measure (Temple Grandin): When the animal has collapsed. Also the “eye roll” • Insensibility: The loss of all reflexes • Practical measure (Temple Grandin): Normally would be the loss of the eye reflex, which is the last to go • Is the equivalent of brain death, but heart death may occur later

11. Animal Welfare • Both groups have extensive rules relating to animal welfare and proper slaughter – these rules were designed to respect and protect animals. • I have worked closely with Dr. Temple Grandin, and consider modern animal welfare an important part of proper kosher and halal slaughter of animals. Despite the bubble exemption there is no excuse for poor animal welfare in conjunction with the religious slaughter of animals!

12. Details: Initial Clarifications Kosher and halal foods are not blessed. A product is or is not kosher or halal according to whether it follows the rules not because the rabbi or imam is there. The rabbi and imam provide a third party audit to assure that the product is following the rules. However, both groups do say a blessing with respect to slaughter. (Muslims over each animal; Jews over each batch of animals) and use their own people for slaughter of animals

13. The Laws – Focusing on Those Affecting Slaughter Generally kosher and halal cover the following major areas: 1. The allowed animals Kosher: Ruminants Split hoof and chew their cud E.g., cow, sheep, goat, deer, giraffe Halal: Non-carnivorous animals E.g., add: camel, rabbit

14. Kosher: Traditional domestic birds but not ostrich, emu, rhea • Halal: Includes birds like the ostrich emu and rhea

15. 2. The prohibition of blood Kosher and Halal: Specific slaughter requirements: made unconscious by a cut at the neck Kosher: Inspection of animals after slaughter (mainly lungs (Bodek)) Deveining (Menacker) Soaking and salting followed by 1-3 rinses Kosher and Halal: All products derived from animals must be obtained from religiously slaughtered animals, e.g., gelatin, tallow, fat derivatives (emulsifiers, glycerol)

18. There are many other laws in both religions that we will not cover in this presentation. Rebecca has a more general paper to share that covers a broader look at kosher and halal food regulations.

19. Kosher and Halal are an important part of the food industry worldwide Importance to the industry is not religious but business Many food companies are involved in kosher and/or halal food productions because it is a good business decision! And that is the way it should be. The Food Industry View

20. Pre-slaughter handling • We need particularly calm animals for religious slaughter – how do we get them? • How do we identify the right animals ahead of time? • What equipment and procedures work best? • Should there be a special code of practice? • [Scientists need to be sensitive to the requirements of the religious community -- the two must always remain compatible – and to be successful all changes must be religiously acceptable.]

21. Who can slaughter kosher or halal? • Only a religiously and practically trained Orthodox Jewish male can slaughter while all sane adult Muslims can slaughter • The Shochet • Requires a religious “license”: both testing religiously and “can do” requirements • But how do we improve their “secular” training? [E.g., new EU requirements] • It appears that a more aggressive cut closer to the jaw leads to more rapid insensibility • [between the thyroid cartilage and the cricoid cartilage]

22. Muslim Slaughter • Both male and female can slaughter: Commercially I have only seen Muslim men. • Two animal slaughter festivals (Eid): Immediately after Ramadan • Three months later: Ibrahim and Ishmael • [Important to know when these holidays are – they move 10 days forward every year] • Every “family” wants to have a freshly slaughtered animal.

23. Preparing an Animal for Kosher Slaughter • The slaughterman (shochet) needs to carefully check the neck of the animal to be sure it is clean and will not harm the knife. If necessary, a work person needs to wash the neck. • Would this process benefit from having the animals washed ahead of time? Is new process! • Challenge: Not to have any standards that appear to rush the slaughterman so that their failure rate goes up.

24. Small Scale Religious Slaughter Halal Knife for Sheep and Goats 12 inches for animals under 250 pounds Religious slaughter can be done humanely with almost zero failures and without the additional pain of stunning

26. www.spiritofhumane.com

27. Upright versus Upside-Down Positioning of the Animal for Religious Slaughter • From the AMI Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines for 2005: • [Animals] that are ritually slaughtered without prior stunning should be restrained in a comfortable upright position. … In a very limited number of glatt Kosher plants in the United States and more commonly in South

28. America and Europe, restrainers that position animals on their backs are used. For information • about these systems and evaluating animal welfare, refer to www.grandin.com (Ritual Slaughter Section). • [Some Muslims also want upside down slaughter but seem to accept upright]

29. The Chalef • A knife designed to specifically make the process work • Has to be twice the length as the diameter of the animals neck • Extremely sharp (an important part of the training – and critical for good religious slaughter is no nicks in the knife) • Checked before and after slaughter • Cannot be nicked! Critical skill: finding and eliminating the nicks

30. Number of Strokes • As long as it is continuous it can be considered acceptable, however, Dr. Grandin has shown that a more aggressive slaughter with fewer strokes leads to more animals becoming insensible quickly • Ergometrics: Can the handles of the knives be better designed to help the slaughterman – different knives for upright and upside-down slaughter?

31. An Exciting New Development • A knife sharpness testing instrument • Developed by Anago Ltd. in Hamilton, NZ • It appears that the equipment is able to see the nicks in the knife

35. Testing Chalefs Data generated at Cornell, September, 2015, with the help of Peter Dowd from Anago, Ltd.

36. The Five Rules of Kosher Slaughter • Rules of SlaughterNo Pausing (Shehiyyah): Can be multiple continuous strokesNo Pressure (Derasah): Concern that the head falls back on the knife [head-holder should solve]No Burrowing (Haladah)No Deviating (Hagrama)There is a proper spot (area) for slaughter • No Tearing (Ikkur) If the neck is too tight, tearing may occur before the cutting

37. Improving Halal Animal Slaughter • Move consistently to a more chalef-like knife • Work to make such a knife available at reasonable cost to abattoirs and community • Teach the importance of sharpening and looking for the nicks • Use the Anago instrument to assure knife status initially and regularly during one’s career • Teach how to use the knife to optimize success (also needed with Shochtim): where to cut

38. The Temple Grandin Head Holder • Its role is to prevent the head from any movement, which can compromise the slaughter religiously and for animal welfare • Must not put too much pressure on the animal • Must not restrict the access of the slaughterman to the animal • Should be released slightly immediately after slaughter

40. Neck Tension • Temple’s head holder also gives the ideal neck tension • Tight enough that you get a clean cut with no blocking • Not too tight that tearing occurs ahead of the cut • This is an issue that is never measured in any descriptions of religious slaughter except with Temple Grandin’s head holder (defacto description) – should it actually be a little looser?

41. Time to Unconsciousness • A good system needs to get the animal unconscious properly and quickly (consensus (policy, not science) seems to be that 40 to 60 seconds is maximum acceptable time) [Holland: 40 seconds] • Need to then stun any animal that is not unconscious even if it is then unacceptable to the kosher or halal community • At least one “Temple Grandin plant” is using this standard and getting from 90 to 95% of the animals insensible in 30 sec • [Postville: No animal had to be stunned in 40 sec]

42. Poultry • Held comfortably by the shochet or his helper while being slaughtered and are only hung after slaughter • Muslims do slaughter both off and on the shackle line • Some plants then put them on the shackle while others use a bleeding cone • Gas not acceptable to either the kosher or halal communities • New equipment designed for halal with better support of the animal’s head at higher line speeds

43. Some Considerations • Bring animals in calmly • Use restraint equipment properly • Shochet or Muslim checks knives • Shochet checks neck • Slaughterman makes the cut • Shochet checks cut quickly and rechecks knife • Wait for animal to become unconscious and then insensible • Release animal from restraint (can hang when unconscious)

44. Drop guts, leave heart and lungs in • Bodek inspects lungs internally • Lungs removed and kept (with ID) separately • Bodek inspects lungs externally • Needs an air pump and a water bath • Carving of the ribs may occur • Meat separated that is kosher, halal, or secular • After chilling need to devein (only front quarter practically speaking) • Therefore about 70% of meat in a kosher plant goes to the secular market

45. Generally soaked (1/2 hr, cool water), salted (1 hr, fully covered with salt) and rinsed (often 3 times) • Some meat is sold without soaking/salting but most is done by the plant to meet the need to do within 72 hours • Poultry: • Do either before hanging or putting in a “cone” or after either • Cold (ice water) scalding • Pre-chiller can be used for “soaking” • Chilling tank can be used after salting • No lung inspection

47. Statement by Dr. Temple Grandin • “Recently, I participated in a ritual kosher slaughter -- in this ritual, the way it was meant to be done, I must say. This was at a plant where the management really understood the importance and significance of what they were doing, and communicated this to their employees -- and to the animals as well, I believe. As each steer entered the kosher restraining box, I manipulated the controls to gently position the animal.

48. After some practice, I learned that the animals would stand quietly and not resist being restrained if I eased the chin-lift up under the animal’s chin. Jerking the controls or causing the apparatus to make sudden movements made the cattle jump… Some cattle were held so loosely by the head-holder and the rear pusher gate that they could easily have pulled away from the rabbi’s knife.I was relieved and surprised to discover that the animals don’t even feel the super-sharp blade as it touches their skin. They made no attempt to pull away. I felt peaceful and calm.” (Regenstein and Grandin 1992)

49. Critical Analysis of Religious Slaughter • The impact of the actual religious slaughter needs to be separated from a number of extremely important issues that are not “religious requirements” but which confound the research results, e.g., the people, the facility, the equipment, and the non-slaughter stress of the animals need to be optimized before looking at the impact of the religious slaughter procedure.

50. Problem Equipment • Certain practices (not religious slaughter itself) may need to be banned, e.g., shackling and hoisting, and the Weinberg pen are two possible examples. Ideally with dialog and with respect, the religious communities will support these changes. (Many already do.)