Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the welfare standards of animals that are not stunned before slaughter in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

The Government encourages the highest standards of animal welfare and would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter, but respects the rights of Jews and Muslims to eat meat prepared in accordance with their beliefs.

EC Regulation 1099/2009 sets down the welfare standards for animals at the time of killing, including regulations specifically concerned with animals which are slaughtered without stunning. In addition to these EU-level requirements, the Government has adopted stricter national regulations for animals that are slaughtered without stunning, which provide them with more extensive protections than the EU Regulation. These are set down in The Welfare of Animals at Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015.