I’m read about how kosher meat is prepared. Wikipedia states “A professional slaughterer, or shochet (שוחט), using a large razor-sharp knife with absolutely no irregularities, nicks or dents, makes a single cut across the throat to a precise depth, severing both carotid arteries, both jugular veins, both Vagus nerves, the trachea and the esophagus, no higher than the epiglottis and no lower than where cilia begin inside the trachea, causing instantaneous loss of blood flow to the brain and death in a few seconds. Any variation from this exact procedure could cause unnecessary suffering”.
Is this true? Would a quick and simple bullet to the brain do the trick? While it may not be kosher, I’d imagine death would be a lot quicker than “a few seconds”. Also, how in non-kosher meat slaughtered?
“The best time to ask questions regarding Kosher and such is not after sundown on Friday”, is incorrect grammer. It would be correct to say “The best time to ask questions regarding Kosher and such are not after sundown on Friday”. Just thought that you should know.
It might, and then again it might not. It all depends on the skill of the operator and the type of bullet involved. I’ve shot wild animals and I’ve shot domestic animals to kill them. It’s easier and less stressful for me but I need to cut their throat to be certain they are dead anyway.
Once again, this is highly variable. A high velocity, large calibre bullet to the brain is usally instantly fatal. A small calibre or low velocity bullet to the brainstem is usualy instantly fatal. But a small or low velocity bullet elsewhere can just cause paralysis or unconsciousness, which is why you need to cut the throat anyway.
Remember even humans, which are much more lightly built than cattle, often survive gunshot wounds to the brain. That gives you some idea about the idea of a guaranteed death.
Depends a lot on the market and the animal.
Commonly it starts with a pneumatic gun. Basically it’s a jackhammer that stores the pressure and then releases it when the trigger is pulled, driving the hammer through the animal’s skull. This is still not a guaranteed kill, alhtough it is guaranteed to cause unconsciousness. The animal is then hoisted onto hooks and the throat is cut to ensure death.
The thing to keep in mind is that there is a world of death between death in a few seconds and unconsiouness in a few seconds. Even the pneumatic hammer or a high velocity bullet won’t guarantee death, those techniques still rely on bleeding to kill the animal. What those techniques do guarantee is instantaneous unconsciouness. So long as the animal never wakes up it doesn’t matter if it takes seconds or hours before it actually dies.
When the throat is cut properly the drop in blood pressure causes the body to initiate a fainting reaction. The animal passes out and never regains consciousness. It might take several seconds to die (probably close to 30 seconds) but the animal will be conscious for less than second.
No, danceswithcats was correct. The initial subject of the sentence is singular: “the best time”. Had they said "“The best times to ask questions…” then “are not after sundown on Friday” would be acceptable, though a little starined. Really if the subject is plural then you would need plural times, as in “are not after sundown on Friday and not during Passover”. However because time is inherently plural (ie there are numerous seconds, hours etc within the Sabbath itself) then “are not after sundown on Friday” is acceptable if strained.
Lots of reasons, several of them psychological reasons, and they’re probably hard to understand if you’ve never killed animals.
I will shoot an animal readily, but will only cut their throat out of desparation. That’s because it’s tough mentally to kill something with a knife. Pulling a trigger is quick and has little chance of going wrong. Using a knife takes a good half second at least, which under the circumstances can seem like an eternity. And if at any time you make a mistake or the animal gets out of your control you have an injured animal wandering around. That’s not good for me and it’s even worse for the animal. So it’s simply easier on the operator to use a gun. I can cut an animal’s throat, and thank Og I’ve never stuffed up the few times I’ve done it, but I lack the confidence to do it well.
The efficiency and safety aspects are also covered under the reliability of the method. You really do not want to be standing beside a half tonne steer when its throat is half cut. Nor does the abbatoir want any more stuff-ups than are absolutely necessray because they slow down production even if nobody is injured.
Another consideration is training. Killing is not a skilled job nor is it a desirable job. It’s easy for an abbatoir to train someone to use a bolt gun in half a day and set them to work, and when they quit or are promoted they can be replaced just as quickly. Teaching someone to kill with a knife is far more difficult.
I guess what it comes down to is that someone given half a day’s training with a gun can be just as efficient a someone with 6 months training with a knife. Add in the psychological aspects and the use of the gun becomes advantageous even where it isn’t mandated by law.
There’s no reason why a skilled operator with a knife should be any less efficient than a skilled operator with a gun. But that’s like saying a skilled operator with a bolt action rifle is just as efficient as a skilled operator with a fully automatic rifle. It’s perfectly true but the tricky part is acquiring that level of skill. I suspect many people could simply never acquire it. For them the simpler tool makes a huge difference.
IIRC: there was a big controversy a while back when some group (probably PETA) release a secret camera video inside a slaughterhouse where the cows were being killed in an improper manner and were stumbling around for several minutes before they died of loss of blood.
