Slaughtering and stunning of animals in France: It's up to the EU to decide

As part of the Farm to Fork strategy, the European Union is preparing to revise its various legislative texts surrounding the protection of farm animals. The overhaul concerns the conditions of detention in breeding, the conditions of transport, the protection of animals at the time of their killing, as well as the methods of labeling animal products. With regard to slaughter, in the current state of the regulation (No. 1099/2009), the general principle is prior stunning. “Animals are killed only after stunning. The animal is kept in a state of unconsciousness and insensitivity until it dies.” Out of respect for Jewish and Muslim religious practices, the regulation allows Member States to derogate from stunning. Over the past twenty years, French and European veterinary institutions, as well as several scientific reports, including one from the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), have established the fact that slaughter without stunning leads to greater suffering in animals, ...