K A S H R U T . C O M_©

Finnish community statement on government’s new proposal on animal welfare

March 5, 2018 from the eurojewcong.org:

"The Finnish government is proposing new legislation on animal wellbeing, which would replace the current law on Animal Protection. In the suggested legislation bleeding of an animal could only be started once the animal has been appropriately stunned or killed with a method suitable for the species in question. The new legislation would require so-called pre-cut stunning. The current law on Animal Protection allows starting of the bleeding of the animal simultaneously with its stunning. Under the new law, the animal would always have to be stunned prior to slaughtering it."

"Slaughter according to Jewish practice ( shechita ) and the commandments concern ing purity of food (kashrut) are absolutely central in Judaism and religiously binding for Jews. There are many commandments on proper humane treatment of animals in Judaism; the aim of shechita is to produce the minimal amount of suffering and pain to an animal during slaughter. Thus, the harming of an animal by stunning it prior to bleeding, is absolutely forbidden in Judaism. Shechita has been shown in numerous studies, to be at least as swift and painless a slaughtering method as e.g. bolt pistol stunning conjoined with bloodletting."

Full Statement is can be found here