Under the following legislation, all animals must be stunned prior to slaughter within the UK (RSPCA, 2025). There are various methods of stunning an animal and it's superfluous to go into them in detail. However, stunning "when performed correctly... causes an animal to lose consciousness so the animal can't feel pain... before 'sticking' (neck cutting) is carried out" (RSPCA, 2025). 

1. Retained EU regulation 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing
2. Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (WATOK) regulations for England (GOV UK, 2015).

However, there are currently exceptions to the legal requirement to pre-stun animals: 

"Jewish and Muslim communities aren't required by law to stun animals before slaughter. All Shechita (Jewish) and some Halal (Muslim) slaughter involves cutting the animal's throat without stunning them first" (RSPCA, 2025). 

"Figures from the Food Standards Agency indicate that in 2018 over 94 million cattle, sheep, and poultry were slaughtered in England without being pre-stunned. Some parts of the Muslim community do accept pre-stunning. Figures from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) indicate that in 2018 58% of all halal meat in England was pre-stunned" (BVA, 2025). 

Consequences of not Stunning an Animal Prior to Slaughter. Animals:

1. "Feel the pain of the neck cut;
2. experience a delay in loss of consciousness (lasting up to 2 minutes in cattle); and
3. are highly likely to suffer pain, suffering, and distress during the cut and bleeding (BVA, 2025)". 

As above, animals feel pain and distress as we humans do. 

Ultimately, UK law should apply to everyone who wishes to reside within or visit the UK - no exceptions. Everyone should be welcome to exist legally within the UK, but without any exemption from the law. We wouldn't allow an exemption to the National Speed Limit for certain faiths, so why are we allowing animals to experience a greater degree of suffering to the benefit of certain faiths? 

In the case of Halal meat for followers of Islam, "many halal certification bodies require that the stunning method used must be reversible, meaning the animal must be capable of regaining consciousness if not slaughtered immediately" (Halal Friendly List, 2025). As such, it is possible for an animal to be stunned and still be considered Halal. Thus, there is no excuse for Halal animals not to be stunned. In the case of All Shechita, stunning is forbidden. Yet, if there is sufficient reason for UK law to mandate stunning of animals prior to sticking, there must be no exception. 

A number of countries including France, Denmark, and Sweden have already banned non-stun slaughter (MA Agriculture Ltd, 2025),  and the UK must follow. The animals do not follow a faith, so shouldn't be subjected to additional fear, distress and suffering in order to please those who do. 

Further, there is currently "no mandatory UK law requiring Halal labelling" (The Halal Times, 2025). The result of this, is that due to the current legal exemption to stunning for religious slaughter, British consumers who do not agree with the practice may be inadvertently consuming meat that has been treated in this way. 

Eating meat is no longer necessary, given "you can get the nutrients you need from eating a varied and balanced vegan diet including fortified foods and supplements" (NHS, 2022). However, for as long as people continue to unnecessarily fund meat production, then the least they can do is to support the treatment of animals in the most humane way, in line with the current scientific evidence. 

"Speciesism is a misguided belief that one species is more important than another" (PETA, 2025). As such, please try to place yourself in the mind of the animals. Would you want to have an invasive operation without anaesthetic? Would you wish to face the same end? If not, then please sign this petition.