Ritual slaughter

Ritual slaughter is the practice of slaughtering livestock for meat in a ritual manner, e.g. prescribed by a religious dietary laws, notably Jewish Shechita and Islamic Ḏabīḥah.

In Animal sacrifice in general, the ritual aspect predominates over the food production aspect, but since typical animal sacrifices also yield meat consumed by the sacrificers, a clear line cannot be drawn between ritual slaughter and generic animal sacrifice.

History
Walter Burkert in Homo Necans discusses animal sacrifice as arising from the anthropological transition to hunting. With the domestication of livestock, the hunt was gradually replaced by the slaughter or livestock, and hunting rituals were consequently transformed to the context of slaughter.

In antiquity, ritual slaughter and animal sacrifice was one and the same. Thus, as argued by Detienne et al. (1989), for the Greeks, consumption of meat not slaughtered ritually was unthinkable, so that beyond being a tribute to the gods, Greek animal sacrifice marked a cultural boundary, separating "Hellenes" from "barbarians". Greek animal sacrifice was Christianized into slaughter ceremonies involving Greek Orthodox Christian ritual.

Ancient Egyptian slaughter rituals are frequently depicted in tombs and temples from the Old Kingdom onwards. The standard iconography of the ritual involves a bull lying fettered on the ground with the butcher standing over it cutting its foreleg. The scene is attended by a woman and two priests.

Jewish Shechita
Shechita (Hebrew:שחיטה) is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish dietary laws. The act is performed by drawing a very sharp knife across the animal's throat and allowing the blood to drain out. Islamic dietary laws require a similar procedure.

The animal must be killed with respect and compassion by a "shochet" (ritual slaughterer), a pious Jew who has in mind the life of the animal as he draws the knife across its neck. The animal can be in a number of positions; when the animal is lying on its back, this is referred to as shechita munachat. If the hindquarters (or sirloin) of kosher mammals are to be eaten by Jews, they must be 'porged' - stripped of veins, fats and sinews in accordance with a strict procedure. Because of the expense of porging and the skill required to properly separate out the forbidden parts, a large portion of the meat of kosher mammals slaughtered through shechita in the United States winds up on the non-kosher market.

Islamic Ḏabīḥah
Ḏabīḥah (ذَبِيْحَة) is the prescribed method of slaughtering all animals excluding fish and most sea-life per Islamic law. This method of slaughtering animals consists of a swift, deep incision with a sharp knife on the neck, cutting the jugular veins and carotid arteries of both sides but leaving the spinal cord intact. The objective of this technique is to more effectively drain the body of the animal's blood, resulting in more hygienic meat, and to minimize the pain and agony for the animal. Detractors, most notably animal rights groups, contend that this method of slaughter 'causes severe suffering to animals'.

Legal aspects
Bans on ritual slaughter have been proposed or enacted in a number of European countries, from the late 1890s onward. The issue is complicated by allegations of antisemitism and islamophobia.

The initial ban on kosher slaughter in modern Europe originated in the late 19th century in 1897 in Switzerland. Later bans were enacted in Bavaria in 1930, in Norway, Germany and Sweden in the mid-1930s.

Debate on the issue has shifted over time such that modern debate focuses primarily on balancing concerns for animal welfare with concerns over limiting freedom of religion. Additionally, proponents of ritual slaughter argue that their practice is humane and that objections are based on misconceptions.

Literature

 * M. Detienne, J.-P. Vernant (eds.), The Cuisine of Sacrifice among the Greeks, trans. Wissing, University of Chicago Press (1989).