Petition filed states that non-stun slaughter is “barbaric” and doesn’t fit in with British value
On the 9th of June 2025 Parliament will debate a petition signed by over a hundred thousand people to ban non-stunned slaughter here in the UK.
It comes after a petition was filed to ‘Ban non-stun slaughter in the UK’, and which garnered over 109,000 signatures. It claims “In modern society, we believe more consideration needs to be given to animal welfare and how livestock is treated and culled.
“We believe non-stun slaughter is barbaric and doesn’t fit in with our culture and modern-day values and should be banned, as some EU nations have done.”
Current UK law requires all animals to be stunned before slaughter; however, the law provides an exemption for the Muslim and Jewish community to slaughter without stunning.
A small percentage of Halal slaughter is non-stunned here in the UK and all Shechita (Jewish) slaughter is non-stunned, both collectively only representing a small percentage of slaughter overall.
All non-stunned Halal slaughter in the UK and EU is carried out humanely, in fully licensed and regulated slaughterhouses, adhering strictly to animal welfare laws.
These practices take place in the same controlled environments and under the same rigorous standards as conventional slaughter, ensuring the highest level of care and dignity for the animals at every stage.
The Halal Monitoring Committee (HMC), UK’s largest certifying body – and a registered charity, is in communication with other partner groups to respond and contribute to this debate and will communicate this to the Muslim community in due course.
HMC says: “It would be highly beneficial to contact your local MP and clarify their understanding and view on this debate. Unfortunately, there is lots of misinformation being circulated on social media which is not only inaccurate but shared to demonise the Muslim community and create hate.”
Parliament will debate this petition on 9 June 2025. You’ll be able to watch online on the UK Parliament YouTube channel.
