DEAR READERS: A recent article by Brooks Johnson in the Star Tribune detailed how some Minnesota goat producers will be providing goats for local halal slaughter. Such meat from goats, and other animals who have been ritually slaughtered, is becoming more available across the United States, whereas currently, most halal meat is imported from Australia and New Zealand.
Not many people outside of the community of Islam, for which I have great respect, know anything about ritual halal slaughter. Even some practitioners of the faith may not know that the tradition of killing animals as humanely as possible has fallen behind today’s scientific knowledge of what this method of slaughter entails.
Ritual Islamic and Jewish slaughter involves severing animals’ tracheas (windpipes), jugular veins and carotid arteries. This does not render the animal immediately unconscious, because the arteries coursing up the vertebrae are not severed. The arteries continue to supply the brain with oxygen as the animal struggles to breathe, inhaling and exhaling blood through the severed trachea before eventually losing consciousness and bleeding out.
Furthermore, animals in the slaughter line become distressed, seeing and hearing the struggles and distress calls of those being restrained and killed. Ideally, they should be held in a separate area before being taken to the point of slaughter.
As a veterinarian, I do not accept the claims by practitioners of ritual Islamic and Jewish slaughter who insist that their killing methods are humane. Having witnessed both methods in several countries, I can attest to the contrary.
All of this suffering can be avoided by stunning the animal with electrocution or a captive-bolt pistol, rendering the animal immediately unconscious before its throat is cut. However, the practice of stunning is opposed by religious orthodoxies. The bold, pioneering Islamic thinker Al-Hafiz B.A. Masri, in his book ”Animals in Islam,” advocated for captive-bolt stunning. He wrote that the practice is not only permissible in Islam, but worthy of global adoption by all Muslims.
In 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that E.U. member states could require the stunning of land animals before slaughter, and that they did not have to allow exceptions for religious rites or any other reason. Countries where the stunning of land animals prior to slaughter is now required include Slovenia, Finland, Denmark and Sweden, as well as the Wallonia and Flanders regions of Belgium. (Full story: animalequality.org/news/eurpoean-union-states-stunning-animals-before-slaughter)
So long as we kill animals for food, we should at least afford them a humane death.
DEAR DR. FOX: My 8-year-old male Scottish fold cat has been peeing in different areas of the house for the past two years. He is an indoor cat, neutered, and lives with his brother. My vet told me he probably saw another cat through the window and is marking his territory.
I bought a pheromone spray, but it doesn’t have any effect. Is there anything else I could try? -- S.M., Tulsa, Oklahoma
DEAR S.M.: Your veterinarian is probably correct, and this is a major reason why cat owners should not let their cats roam free and disturb neighbors’ indoor cats.
However, it is important to rule out cystitis, which could be stress-related and aggravated by a diet too high in carbohydrates. Canned or home-prepared cat food has helped many cats with urinary bladder issues.
Ask your veterinarian for a prescription of gabapentin to give your cat at the start of the day, and also give him 1 or 2 milligrams of melatonin at bedtime.
DEAR DR. FOX: You know I enjoy corresponding with you and love most of your ideas, but I practice TNR (trap, neuter, release) and can’t imagine putting them down instead. I’m telling you, I’ve never seen a dead bird in the industrial area where I feed cats. There are no birds!
Anyway, I just saw the story below on my local news, even though Tampa is far from West Palm Beach. -- G.B.C., West Palm Beach, Florida
Story: humanesocietytampa.org/adopt/working-cats/
DEAR G.B.C.: I have made it clear in my critique of TNR that the practice is acceptable only when the cats are essentially enclosed by physical barriers, as in fenced warehouses and other private property, and so long as they are provided shelter, cleaned litterboxes, vaccinations, food, water and veterinary care as needed. I question all “humane” societies that are giving cats out to serve as “working cats” to control rodents without the forementioned provisions -- not to mention the fact that few cats can kill adult rats and effectively control rat infestations. In too many situations, cats are instead killing indigenous wildlife and competing with native predators, which is unacceptable, and also unsafe for the cats.
(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.
Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)