Ban Religious Slaughter in Poland
- by: Welfare Animals
- recipient: Primeminister of Poland Donald Tusk
Act voting in July 2013. It is very urgent. Please sign this petition.
Stop Religious Slaughter in Poland has requested the Polish Parliament to register this petition and is awaiting confirmation. By signing this petition, we will be able to notify you as soon as we have received confirmation from the Polish Parliament.
ABOUT THIS PETITION:
The ritual slaughter of animals decreed by Jewish and Muslim dietary laws require that the animals are conscious when they have their throats slit. In the European secular food industry, regulations strive to minimise "the risk of causing pain, fear or distress to the animals" in their being slaughtered for food. Crucially, these rules require the stunning of animals before being killed, either with a bolt to the brain, or with electricity. However, the law kowtows before the Jewish kashrut and Islamic halal guidelines in permitting avoidance of stunning.
What is the difference for the animals?
Non-stunned animals are slaughtered in vivid mindfulness, they experience unacceptable suffering. Their agony can last several minutes.
In the context of slaughter with stunning, the animal does not suffer at the time of slaughter, since there is loss of consciousness. Scientists have clearly stated: "Because of the serious animal welfare associated with slaughter without stunning, stunning should always be carried out before the slaughter."
The video (graphic!) in the following link demonstrates the difference between slaughter with prior stunning, vs slaughter without stunning (ritual or religious slaughter). While the animal in the first method is rendered unconscious immediately, the animals slaughtered without prior stunning experience their agony in full consciousness. You don't need to be an expert to see that this causes immense unnecessary suffering to the animals.
If we, as the dominant species on Earth (!), are to use and consume animals, it is our duty to minimize their suffering in doing so. The anachronism of slaughter without stunning has no place in the modern world and should be outlawed. This special indulgence to religious practices should be replaced with the evidence-based approaches to which the rest of us are subject.
For us, religious freedom stops where human or animal suffering begins.
By signing this petition, the letter that you can read under the tab 'Petition Letter' will be sent instantly to Mr Donald Tusk - Primeminister of Poland.
Thank you very much in advance for your signature.
Dear Mr Donald Tusk The Primeminister Polish Republic
I hereby request that the Polish Parliament will vote as we international and Polish citizens we demand. We ask vote as a human!
The overall objective of the Regulation, i.e. the protection of animals from pain, anxiety and suffering during the slaughter process. Despite the statement in the Recitals, whereby it is emphasized that “animal welfare is a Community value that is enshrined in the Protocol (No. 33) on protection and welfare of animals, annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community (Protocol No. 33)”, the Regulation allows for the methods of slaughter which, according to the contemporary standards, must be viewed as unquestionably cruel and causing unnecessary pain and anxiety, in terms of both physical and mental distress, and making animals die in extreme suffering.
Almost 100% of the meat and meat products from non-stunned slaughter is exported from Poland, mainly to the Muslim countries and Israel. Thus, the non-stunned slaughter in the Polish slaughterhouses does not serve the purpose which the European legislator had in mind when adopting the derogation, i.e. respecting the religious rites of certain European citizens, but is done merely for commercial reasons – to maximize the profits of Polish entrepreneurs, who are becoming the leading meat suppliers to the Muslim and Jewish markets worldwide.The ritual slaughter in the European legislation is not supported by the case-law of the European Court of Animal Rights.
In view of all the above described circumstances, I believe that Polish Parliament will reject this Ritual Slaughter Act .
Sincerely,
[Your name]
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