People objecting to the ritual slaughter of animals have “tender consciences” and should be more concerned by factory farming, the former Archbishop of Canterbury has said.
Lord Williams has suggested that animal welfare should not trump religious freedom and suggested people should be more concerned with “major problems” in the farming industry.
He has reportedly written to the Danish government after it banned ritual slaughter of animals earlier this year amid concerns about animal cruelty.
His intervention comes after John Blackwell, the president-elect of the British Veterinary Association, said that the traditional practice of slitting animals’ throats and allowing them to bleed to death for halal and kosher meat caused unnecessary suffering.
He told The Tablet: “Guaranteeing humane treatment for animals under law is a proper feature of any humane society.
“But there are debates we need to have about just how far the methods used by Jewish and Muslim slaughterers can be regarded as gravely inhumane, about whether the rights of animals can indeed trump religious liberty, as the Danish minister seems to be saying.
“And above all, about why religious groups should be singled out when some of the major problems of animal welfare are to be found in the routine practices of factory farming in this and other countries.
“Tender consciences on halal and shechita slaughter don’t sit very well with the overwhelming acceptance of these practices by most of us.”
More than 600,000 animals bleed to death in religious abattoirs in Britain every week. Mr Blackwell urged Jews and Muslims to allow animals to be stunned unconscious before they are killed.
He is urging ministers to follow the example of Denmark and ban the practice if they refuse to cooperate.
Pressure for a ban on slaughter without stunning is led by charities such as Compassion in World Farming and the RSPCA.