THE religious slaughter of animals for meat causes them "pain and distress", a report has warned.
The Farm and Animal Welfare Council said that slitting animals' throats for kosher and halal meat was likely to be painful because the animal is conscious for at least 20 seconds as they bleed to death.
In a report by Fawc and leading veterinary experts, it recommends the Government begin talks with Jewish and Muslim communities to ensure animals are stunned first.
The report states: "Such a large cut will inevitably trigger sensory input to pain centres in the brain. Our conclusions are such that an injury would result in significant pain and distress."
But a spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "The Government has adopted a policy of religious tolerance and acceptance of the right to practise religion freely by allowing an exemption from stunning requirements for kosher and halal slaughter."
In addition to strongly opposing the idea that animals exist merely to serve and feed man, Buddhism also recognizes that every sentient being has the capacity to feel pain. Furthermore, as sentient beings are reborn according to their karmic propensities, all beings have transmigrated through the various animal realms. As the Buddha stated, (Over the repetition of rebirths since beginningless time,) "it is not easy to find a being who has not at one time been our mother, father, brother, or sister." So, when saving the life of another being, Buddhism believes that we are not just saving a fish or a rabbit, but the life of one of our mothers in the past.
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