How bad is halal and kosher slaughter for the animals?

It is bad when the animal is not stunned first, and that is exactly the point of kosher and some halal slaughter. Jewish law and many interpretations of Islamic law forbid stunning before slaughter, because the animal must be conscious when the throat is cut1. The EU food safety authority EFSA concludes that every animal slaughtered without stunning is conscious while it bleeds and suffers severe pain, fear and distress, and that such slaughter should not be practised2.

The cut itself hurts. Brain recordings in calves show that cutting the neck is a painful stimulus for a conscious animal3. How long it lasts varies a lot. Most cattle seem to lose consciousness 5 to 90 seconds after the cut, but consciousness returning has been reported for more than 5 minutes4. In some animals the severed carotid arteries close up, so the brain keeps getting blood. In a study of 174 cattle given halal slaughter without stunning, 8 percent took 60 seconds or more to collapse5. Then there is the restraint. In the EU, 78 percent of cattle slaughtered without stunning are turned on their side or back, and more animals struggle when turned fully over6.

Scientists disagree on how fast it goes. A systematic review from 2026 puts most weight on electrodes placed directly on the brain and finds that calves lost consciousness after 7.5 seconds on average, ranging from 5 to 13 seconds7. Another 2026 review finds it unproven that closed carotid arteries prolong consciousness8. Even the first review notes, however, that the problem is not only time but also the pain of the cut, how well the cut is made and the stress of restraint9.

The EU regulation on killing exempts animals slaughtered by religious rites from the stunning requirement, as long as it happens in a slaughterhouse10. The exception exists only for freedom of religion11. The same regulation lets countries adopt stricter rules for religious slaughter specifically1213. In 2020 the EU Court of Justice ruled that countries may therefore require stunning in ritual slaughter too, citing a scientific consensus that stunning is the best way to reduce the animal's suffering14.

In Denmark, slaughter by religious rites must take place with prior stunning15. As Jewish law forbids stunning, kosher slaughter cannot take place there. Danish halal is stunned, but slaughterhouses may stun cattle, sheep and goats with a non-penetrating captive bolt16. EFSA advises against it, because it fails more often and gives a shorter period of unconsciousness17. In one study it worked in only 82 percent of cattle, against 100 percent with a penetrating bolt18. Stunning is far better than none, but the halal-friendly version is not the safest.