Legislation and ritual slaughter

Within Europe it is prohibited to slaughter animals that are not stunned in Sweden, Switzerland, Iceland, Latvia, and Norway. Elsewhere in the world it is allowed.

In the US, the 1958 Humane Slaughter Act declared Kosher and similar slaughter methods to be humane. In England and France, slaughter without stunning is permitted for religious reasons.

In manys countries animals should be stunned before slaughter. One way to secure good stunning quality is to check the absence of eye activity. Photo: Sophie Atkinson