Israel’s agriculture ministry has issued new guidelines that will require more humane methods of kosher slaughter of beef imported into the country.
In the new guidelines for kosher humane slaughter, the department’s veterinary and animal health division required that imported meat be slaughtered using a rotary retainer, which is considered more human than the commonly used shackle and lifting method.
The switch to a rotary restraint must be completed by June 1, 2018, and new suppliers must immediately start using the most humane method.
The move comes months after the publication of a secret investigation by activists from animal rights groups that exposed the cruelty of the shackle and hoist method at one of Paraguay’s largest slaughterhouses.
Forty percent of the beef consumed in Israel comes from Paraguay, which does not export beef to the United States. The practice is not permitted in Israel, which has restricted the slaughter of kosher beef.
The shackle and hoist method is common in slaughterhouses in Argentina and Uruguay, which export to the United States.
“The ban on this extraordinarily cruel method of slaughter is an important step forward,†according to a joint statement from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA; Israeli animal rights groups Anonymous for Animal Rights and Let the Animals Live. “However, as consumers, we must remember that every slaughter is painful and that there is no humane way to kill animals in an industry that treats living things like products.
A petition by animal rights groups was filed with Israel’s Supreme Court after the investigation report was released, calling on the court to order meat import licenses to require foreign slaughterhouses to shut down. comply with Israeli law and other international ordinances and to prohibit the use of the shackle-and-lifting method.
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