Source: Daily Telegraph (U.K.)
On June 11, 2003 the Daily Telegraph (U.K.) reported that "Muslim and Jewish methods of slaughter, involving slitting animals' throats and letting them bleed to death, should be banned immediately, Government advisers said yesterday. The Farm Animal Welfare Council, which advises ministers on livestock cruelty, said in a report published yesterday that the way in which halal and kosher meats are produced was intrinsically cruel and caused severe suffering for sheep, goats and cattle." The article explained that, "Instead of stunning the animal before slaughter, the Jewish Shechita and Muslim Halal methods require the animal to be fully conscious at the time its throat is slit with a long, sharp blade ... Jewish and Muslim leaders insisted that their methods resulted in a sudden loss of blood from the head, causing animals to feel almost nothing."