BVA raises concerns over rise in animals slaughtered without stunning

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has raised animal welfare concerns about a recent rise in the number of animals being killed by the food industry without stunning.

Data released by the Food Standards Agency has shown that 24.4 percent of sheep and goats slaughtered between April and June this year were killed without stunning, an increase from 15 percent in 2013.

Meanwhile, the number of chickens being slaughtered without pre-stunning has risen to 18.5 percent from three percent in 2013, when the EU and UK adopted legislation allowing an exemption to stunning laws for animals that are slaughtered for religious purposes.

The BVA believes slaughter without stunning unnecessarily compromises the welfare of animals at the time of death, and has campaigned for the reintroduction of laws that guarantees all animals are stunned before slaughter.

It has argued that the supply of meat from animals that have not been stunned currently outstrips the demand from the communities for which it is intended by a considerable amount, meaning this meat is entering the mainstream market unlabelled.

Gudrun Ravetz, president of the BVA, said: "If slaughter without stunning is still to be permitted, any meat from this source must be clearly labelled and the supply of non-stun products should be matched with demand."

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