You have a point there, but I do think we are overly reliant on the industrialization of our foods. There is a lot we can do ourselves. I have a small garden. It´s amazing what produce I get from it, and it´s tiny. 

We could grow & process a lot ourselves. 

What is wrong with using horsemeat? I don´t see how using horsemeat is an excuse for allowing non-sedated slaughter. What I also don´t get is that Holland is viewed as some sort of nazi country for this ruling. Other countries have had these rules for years. I´m disappointed by the intellectual elite of the religious Dutch, and their inability to look into their religious rules and how they treat all living things around them. Yes, my country is facing a danger of racism with Geert Wilders and his party, but this ruling is not the danger that we have to focus on. It is like saying that the feelings of Moslims are more important than the feelings of people who care deeply about animal rights.

My family are small scaled biological farmers. So yes, I have seen animals that have been slaughtered. I´m not the type of hypocrite that eats meat but doesn´t want to know where it comes from. I have seen the difference between a halal slaughter in Turkey and a sedated slaughter in Holland. With larger animals the difference is visible in my opinion. The branding of animals (burning their skin) that was mentioned before is illegal in Holland. I also think that the large scale bio industry is plagued by animal cruelty, but I don´t see this as an good argument for allowing halal slughter. The only good argument is that it is no worse than the alternative. If somebody can prove that, than halal slaughter is fine by me (and also fine by the Dutch government according to the proposed law).

In my country (Britain) we have relaxed the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter & Killing) Regulations to accommodate the Jewish and Muslim faiths. The RSPCA in their fact sheet http://www.rspca.org.uk/ImageLocator/LocateAsset?asset=document&assetId=1232719611043&mode=prd state that the time taken from cut to loss of brain responsiveness is 5-7 seconds in sheep to 22-40 seconds in cattle. This seems a long time to have to restrain an animal in the throes of death. It can be even longer apparently if as in some cases the arteries contract after severing. Surprisingly it goes on to say that 93% of halal meat in Britain comes from pre stuned slaughter. Some Jewish faith slaughter involves stunning after the cut is made.

The reason why I mentioned this is because the Netherlands have been buying  their horse meat from both South American and North American horse slaughter houses  and never concerned themselves on how these animals were treated prior and to death. It has been a cruel and long standing debate for years to the point where USA has banned horse meat slaughter houses for human consumption.

http://nohorsemeat.wordpress.com/horse-slaughter-in-aus/

http://www.alop.org/2011/04/south-american-slaughterhorses/

I am sure you would eat a cute puppy roast as long as the animal was stunned first before killing. In history because horse´s are a working and sport animal they is a mixed reaction to killing for consumption. And many countries consider this to be barbaric considering there are others animals to get your fill on.  I guess as long as it is not in your backyard it is ok to continue to support this and deny others the right of a religious need to have their meat handled in a specific manner. I am not against or for eating horsemeat it is just a point in trying to explain the dutch goverments mentality of thinking and that this is more for denying rights than supporting human animal slaughter which by the way on utube shows how many times failures also occur in regular slaughter houses  and even in the nederland with pig slaughter houses. Stunning is  not considered any better a solution . There is still trauma and pain ( just less noticeable involuntary body response to death. There  is a reason the meat is halal and stunning does not make it halal. Also mention that this stunning idea is designed for animal activists only to give them some sort of cushy pillow to dream on.... Go to a slaughter house and speak to the people who actually do the work. Many times stunning is not effect and actually causes the animal more pain and the people stunning don´t really care it is a production line and they are  blind to your feelings about animals suffering they are required to slaughter so many animals a day and will drag kick or do what ever is necessary to get them through the process.

Stunning actually harms the animal and if it were not slaughter and killed it could not return to normal life therefore haram.

Muslims and Jews have the right to practice their faith as they believe  and understand it, this right cannot and should not be taken away from them nor can or should anyone impose violation on Muslims by requiring prior stunning for religious slaughter. This principle is well illustrated in article n°9 of the European Convention of Humans Rights and of Fundamental Freedoms [5], quoted below:
"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right
includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in a
community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in
worship, teaching, practice and observance.

Instead if attention was paid to a better design and  better operations of the
slaughterhouse, with a staff trained and aware of the methods of handling animals;
religious slaughter is very compassionate to animals.

I can understand balconey and backyard sacrifices should not occur and instead give them access to a plant to help them on these particular days. Also they can pay for someone else to slaughter for them

1- Steps are needed to allow the animal to be kept calm and to reduce stress
and fear (applicable to religious slaughter and to slaughter with stunning):
• Optimization of the design of the slaughterhouse (proper lighting, nonslipping
flooring, solid walls, non-reflective surfaces, minimization of noise).
• The use of immobilization systems for the body (keeping the animal upright)
and to keep the head from moving during slaughter.
• The use of an automatic conveyor: While being handled quietly and calmly,
the cattle voluntarily enter the slaughter box: "the cattle place their head in a
holder that is specifically designed for the purpose and controlled by a
trained operator". It should be noted that Dr. Grandin has designed and built
boxes dedicated to religious slaughter  which are widely used
in the United States and elsewhere.
2-The perception of the pain during the incision:
• Use of a very sharp knife, with a length at least equal to double the width of
the neck (e.g., 12 to 14 inches for sheep and goats and up to 18 inches for
cattle).
• An adequately trained and experienced restraining box operator.
.• A fast, aggressive cut minimizing the number of continuous strokes.
• In that case, there is no reaction by the animal during the incision.”It seems
that the animal is not conscious that its throat is cut".
3- Time to loss of sensibility:
• The calm cattle collapse quickly (often after 10 to 20 seconds, average 17
seconds) and they have a faster onset of insensibility.
• The simultaneous cutting of the two carotid arteries and the two jugular veins
(as required by the religious rule) reduces, significantly, the time to loss
of sensibility. By carrying out a fast cut, 95% of the calves collapes almost
immediately [14].
• The best operators are able to cause bovines to collapse in 10 seconds [16].
• Conversely, with a slow cut the animal remains conscious for more than 30
seconds, in more than 30% of the cases.

There has been enough research  done to comparing both methods and  tests show actually through EEG that the stunned animal suffers more physical  changes and shows more stress.

I would rather eat stunnless halal meat.

The animal loses consciousness immediately. It is difficult to conceive a more
painless and rapid mode of death; for a few seconds after the cut is made, the
animal makes no movement, its body is then convulsed, the convulsive movements
continue for about a minute and then cease. The interpretation of this fact is clear:
the cut is made by a knife so sharp and so skillfully handled that a state of syncope
with its associated unconsciousness follows instantaneously upon the severing of
the blood pressure. The movement of the animal which begins at about 90 seconds
are epileptiform in nature and are due to the blood-less state of the brain (cerebral
ischemia with complete anoxaemia). Sensation has been abolished at the moment
of the initial syncope.

Wow....I´m surprised at that. Places here specify if they are (hand zabiha) slaughtered or not. Also, some have tried using a recording instead of actual "live" recitation. Now places specify what kind of zabiha they have. 

If you think about it, the Kashrut and Zabiha methods of slaughter are actually quite humane. Anyone who has cut themself shaving should realize when you cut yourself with a razor sharp blade, you don´t feel it....it´s only later you feel it...by then the animal is dead. 

I don´t think you can compare a small nick with a razor to the massive trauma experienced by these animals. Lets face it there is not a pleasant way of killing an animal. 

Before the advent of the "knocker" or piston gun to stun the animals, they were gored.  Who are we now to say that the halal way is wrong since it was the way we were doing it in the past?  It is yet another way for us to impose our ways by saying it is more humaine.  I beg to differ after having seen both ways of slaugthering animals. 

Threre are more pressing matters that needs to be tended to at the moment.  Famine in the world, war in the world, over use of natural resources, drugs being sold to children, children being sexually exploited and so on.  So I say to the law makers get your prioreties straight and stop passing laws that seems to put more importance on animals lives than on humans lives.  After they have done that then maybe they can start looking at ways to slaughter animals humainly while still respecting the halal way. 

Not to be too jaded, but, I wonder who profits from this ordinance? Who manufactures them? 

The ones who profit from this are orgenisations like PETA, MCL (Movement for Compassionate living), Vegan Outreach, Vegan and Vegetarian society, Compasion over killing and so on and so on. 

These movements are trying to impose their lifestyles on others and they do not care who they crush to  obtain their goals and if we stand up to them we are treated worst then the animals themselves. 

They cannot bare to watch an animal suffer but you don´t see them rallying behind the cause of a child being molested, where were they when a Philipino woman was decapitated and her body hung on the bottom of a helicopter and flown over the city in Saudi Arabia?  Where are they for the freedom flottila who is trying to make it to the Gaza strip again?  Another ship, the Tahir was attacked this time by the Greeks, the ship was damadged when the coast guard ship rammed the ship into the pear, men and women were beaten by the Greek coast guard.

So frankly I am disgusted by what the governments around the world deem as important.  They are farm animals raised to feed humans, if your way of killing the animal is by cutting it´s throat then let it be.  This is how it has been for eons, before it was sticks and flint tips used with clubs...

Frankly if it were humans that were being killed in such manners I don´t think it would be getting this much uproar...  Come to think of it, mankind is killing each other in such a fashion and no one seems to be bothered by it.

I´m certainly for compassionate treatment of animals, but I don´t think they know what they are talking about. They should take care of the inhumane industrial farming techniques first. Let´s start with what they eat. 

Yes, we have invented an amazing array of killng techniques....cluster bombs, white phosphorus, nepalm.....atom and nuclear bombs...yes some are trying to prohibit halal and kosher slaughter?????

Something is wrong with this picture. 

Can´t we kill them with sleeping pills? So at least they won´t suffer.