Common Slaughter Practices in India
Compiled by Dr.Ashok Kumar Valupadasu, Deputy Director, V&AH Dept., Telangana
In India, ritual method of slaughter is in practice in case of sheep & goats
- Ritual method of slaughter is
- slaughtering of animals while they are
- non-stun slaughter # for religious reasons
- Inhumane slaughter
- The most commonly adopted ritual methods of slaughters in India are
H a l a l -Means permitted as food
Practiced by Muslims
- In India Halal method is practiced extensively
- Prescribed animals only are to be slaughtered for food
- It involves cutting the large arteries in the neck along with the oesophagus and trachea with one swipe of non- serrated blade. One of the main conditions of halal slaughtering is that the neck is partially cut without decapitation leaving the spinal cord intact and body should be released immediately after slaughtering. Animals nose/mouth is pointed towards Mucca while slaughtering
- It provides a relatively painless death and helps to effectively drain blood from the animal.Drained blood is not used for consumption
- Conditions :
Healthy animals only are to be slaughtered No pre-stunning
Water should be offered to the animal before slaughter, and it should not be slaughtered when hungry
The knife should be hidden from the animal, and slaughtering should be done out of sight of other animals waiting to be slaughtered.
Animals should be killed in a comfortable way. Unnecessary suffering to them must be avoided.
The animal must be slaughtered by the use of a sharp knife. The knife must not kill due to its weight. The knife should be re-sharpened before slaughter.
K o s h e r –Means fit or proper ( Hebrew word )
-
- Practiced by Jews
Prescribed animals only are to be slaughtered for food
- The esophagus, trachea, jugular veins and the carotid arteries of the animal are cut and its blood is allowed to flow out
- This process leads to a rapid death of the animal
- This type of slaughter is called as Shechita # done by a specially trained male ( Shochet ), using an extremely sharp special knife ( Chalef )
- Special Kosher salt is sprinkled on meat to drain retained blood if any
- Conditions :
Healthy animals only are to be slaughtered No pre-stunning
Beheading is not permissible
J h a t k a
- A method of slaughter followed Sikhs
- Jhatka is a technique for slaughtering an animal wherein the head of the animal is tethered to a stable column and the posterior legs are stretched out on the opposite The animal is beheaded from the backbone side with a single stroke of sword or axe which causes sudden death.
- Consequently, the animal will not realize any
