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Welcome to Scotland for Animals

We're the country's most exciting animal rights Charity, a grassroots organisation who believe that the power to help animals lies with people like you and me - and we don't have to turn into 'tree huggers' to make changes.

SfA take on Scottish issues that other animal welfare organisations aren't. In 2009 we are tackling issues such as Ritual Slaughter - a subject that others are (not surprisingly) scared to confront for fear of controversy; and other unfashionable issues which have the most detrimental impact on the welfare of Scotland's animals but are often overlooked.

Everybody has a right to get involved to help our country's animals - so we make a real effort to reach out to people and communities generally excluded by other animal groups.

Most recently we've stopped the Harvey Nichols UK chain selling foie gras, rescued our Staffordshire Bull Terrier mascot Bella (pictured above), liberated Hugo the pig-nosed turtle from a nightclub hell, convinced several Scottish stores to ditch fur, set a legal precedent regarding the labelling of Religious Slaughter products in Scotland, shimmied at burlesque workshops to raise funds, given school talks. In May 2009 we stopped the giant Glenrath Farms egg producers from expanding, something they said couldn't be done but together we proved them wrong. Campaigned against circuses with animals in Glasgow. And much more.

We've been in existence since 2002. Formerly known as 1World Scotland we relaunched bigger and better as a result of our numerous successes and the growth of public interest in our work. With your help we'll be making even bigger waves in the forthcoming year.

Scotland for Animals is a charity registered in Scotland. Number SCO39109

Join Scotland's new movement for animals. We would love to hear from you. If you'd like to get involved or make your voice heard just get in touch.

This website will be continually updated - so please check back regularly.

Demonstration of Scotland for Animals from Earthmovies on Vimeo.

(www.scotlandforanimals.org)
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OUR CAMPAIGN FOR CLEAR LABELLING

OF RELIGIOUS SLAUGHTER PRODUCTS FOR CONSUMERS

Last updated August 2009

WHAT IS RELIGIOUS SLAUGHTER?

In the UK it is illegal to slaughter an animal without first stunning it. But there is an exception to this law for Jewish and Muslim religions, who are allowed to slaughter animals without first stunning them, as some members of these faiths say it is against their religion. There are other rituals that contribute to religious slaughter but this is the aspect that we are opposed to.

Jewish products, including meat, are called Kosher, also referred to as shechita.

Muslim products, including meat, are called Halal.

The Meat Hygiene Service say 114 million animals are killed under Halal and 2.1 million under Kosher methods each year in Britain.

WHY IS RELIGIOUS SLAUGHTER WORSE THAN OTHER SLAUGHTER?

While we fully know that all slaughter is extremely traumatic for animals, we believe that religious slaughter is even more so. The animal's throat is cut and it is bled to death; it is fully conscious throughout this process. It can take up to 16 minutes for the animal to die.

A study* showed that on a scale of 100 the agony of death by:

Throat Cutting (equal to Halal or Kosher methods) = 86. The 2nd worst death except for being burnt to death by fire

Gun Shot to Head (equal to the UK's legally required method of stunning) = 13.

The amount of meat products sourced using religious slaughter being sold in Scotland has risen dramatically in the past few years, now even being sold in major supermarkets.

Video here shows a slaughterhouse in USA where the practice is similar to UK: http://tinyurl.com/m4r63n

In certain religious slaughterhouses, tapes are played of religious chants in line with their religious practice. Some are played at very high speed because slaughtermen want to get the animals killed quicker to increase productivity. It's been described as a very upsetting noise for the animals.

(*Study Rhyne, et al. 1995. Dimensions of suicide: perceptions of lethality, time and agony.)

WHAT IS STUNNING?

Stunning = the practice of making an animal unconscious before killing it to minimise the suffering.

Some say that animals are stunned prior to religious slaughter. But the definition of stunning by many religious groups is not what is legally required in regular slaughterhouses. Often the voltage of the stunning is so low that it just paralyses the animal's body but they are still fully conscious; or they regain consciousness during the bleeding. There is anecdotal evidence that even this form of stunning is not practised despite claims that it is.

EU LAW

In May 2009 the EU passed a law saying that meat from religious slaughter must be made available. This sadly bypasses the existing laws of countries such as Switzerland, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia who had already outlawed Halal and Kosher meats because of its cruelty. But we still have a chance to stop this - see below "what you can do".

LABELLING

Not all shops advertise their Kosher or Halal meats. While others simply have signs that are incomprehensible to people who don't speak Arabic or Hebrew.

Despite legislation saying consumers must be given enough information to make an informed purchase, authorities do not insist upon religious slaughter products being clearly labelled.

The symbols below are sometimes used to denote religious slaughter products.

Jewish/Kosher/shechita meat sign

Muslim/Halal meat sign

If you see these symbols without the words "kosher" or "halal" this is illegal due to 'Scotland for Animals' campaign to Trading Standards for enforcement. We are now pushing for yet more clear labelling of all religious slaughter products by law.

Many shops unwittingly sell such products as the meats are mixed up at the slaughterhouse. For example two thirds of Kosher meat ends up in non-Kosher shops This would not be the case if labelling was clearer.

Government Minister Lord Rooker has called for meat slaughtered without stunning to be labelled for the public's benefit.

The SSPCA also support this: "Until slaughter without pre-stunning is banned outright, the Scottish SPCA wishes to see all meat from animals killed in this way clearly labelled so that consumers opposed to the practice do not inadvertently purchase the product."

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