Shechita and Animal Welfare in Judaism

A significant question that is repeatedly asked is whether the Jewish method of slaughter truly considers animal welfare.

Well, not only does the Torah consider preventing animal suffering, but the method of slaughter is the only way we can ensure that no suffering is caused to the animal being slaughtered, and it dies immediately without any delay!

How so?

Jewish slaughter is performed with an extremely sharp knife, which makes a quick cut that is not felt. This phenomenon is identical in humans when they are injured by a sharp, quick cut. They don't know it until they notice blood flowing from the cut (and in fact, no pain is felt yet). Therefore, the cut itself is not felt and the animal loses consciousness within 2 seconds! This ensures that it experiences no suffering and dies immediately.

Convulsions and twitching in the slaughtered animal are not related to consciousness or sensation, but to autonomous reflexes.

The great wonder is that only in animals permitted for consumption according to the Torah, the neck structure allows for painless slaughter, as for a horse or camel, for example, the Jewish method of slaughter would not be effective, and we will explain. When the incredibly sharp knife cuts the trachea and esophagus, it also severs the main artery. Consequently, during the cutting there is an immediate drop in blood pressure, causing the animal to lose consciousness. The cutting itself takes less than half a second, and by the time the animal would begin to feel pain, it is already unconscious.

When animal welfare organizations heard this explanation, they argued that Jewish slaughter doesn't consider animal suffering, responding: "It's true that the main artery is cut at that moment, but there is another artery that exits the heart and enters the Circle of Willis and from there to the brain. This artery is located in the back of the neck and passes through the vertebrae. It is called the vertebral artery. According to Jewish slaughter," they claimed, "it is forbidden to sever the entire head, so this artery is not cut and blood flows uninterrupted to the brain. This means there will not be a sharp and rapid drop in blood pressure, and consequently, the slaughtered animal's loss of consciousness takes several minutes, which means severe suffering for the animal."

The answer received by the animal welfare organization surprised even them. It turns out that all of these points are valid for all mammals except for ruminants, which are kosher for consumption! In these animals, the vertebral artery does climb up the back of the neck like in other mammals, but only to near the Circle of Willis, and it does not enter it. From there, it bends into the artery that is cut during slaughter, and all the blood in it doesn't flow to the brain, but rather into the cut artery. In this situation, the blood flowing from the heart through the vertebral artery also exits at the point of slaughter. At the moment of slaughter, there is a sudden drop in blood pressure in the brainstem, and the animal immediately loses consciousness without any sensation of pain.

It seems there is no more humane slaughter method in the entire world.