Prohibition of unanesthetized slaughter 2019

Until now, unanesthetized slaughter was still allowed, purely for religious reasons. From 1 January 2019 this no longer applies.

At the beginning of the new year there is a ban on unanesthetized slaughter in Flanders. Only poultry and small ruminants may be slaughtered with electron anesthesia, which makes the anaesthetized animal insensitive to pain. However, a different rule applies to calves and cattle. In this case, slaughterhouses must apply post-cut stunning. The animal is stunned after a neck-section. If the electron anesthesia is available for these animals, the technique will also become mandatory for calves and cattle.

In Flanders, it has long been the norm that animals must be stunned at slaughter before they are killed. The exception only applied in approved slaughterhouses for religious unanesthetized slaughter.

Source: Knack