Halal refers to religiously acceptable products and food according to the Muslim faith. The slaughter of animals for Halal meat requires certain rules to be respected indicated in the Koran and the Dzabiha (Halal slaughter rules). In practice, the major difference to conventional slaughter is that the animals are most often not stunned prior to slaughter, although more and more Imams around the world are starting to see the benefit of stunning and accepting some form of it. Although both methods have been subjected to criticism on animal welfare grounds, religious slaughter without stunning receives more attention due to the fact that the animals are fully-conscious during stressful restraining methods and the incision of the knife. … [Read More...]