The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: Foobar on May 07, 2014, 10:28:15 am

Title: BVA petition
Post by: Foobar on May 07, 2014, 10:28:15 am
http://www.bva.co.uk/news/3794.aspx (http://www.bva.co.uk/news/3794.aspx)


There is a link there to the petition that the BVA have started regarding non-stun slaughtering, they need 100,000 signatures in order to get the subject considered for airing in the Commons.


Sign and share if you want; don't if you don't.  I'm just passing on the link that was in the Farmers Weekly the other day, just in case other folks haven't seen it.  I'm not after a debate on here, I'm just sharing the link :).
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Q on May 07, 2014, 10:40:51 am
Thanks foobar - not normally one for petitions but the way some animals are slaughtered is disgusting to me.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: midtown on May 07, 2014, 11:19:58 am
Thanks for highlighting the petition.

One petition that definitely requires a signature! :thumbsup: 
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: shygirl on May 07, 2014, 12:22:38 pm
i couldnt see where to sign??
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Foobar on May 07, 2014, 12:24:22 pm
There is a link at the end of the first paragraph that takes you to the petition itself.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: doganjo on May 07, 2014, 12:56:21 pm
Signed - over 20k on there now
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: shygirl on May 07, 2014, 01:58:57 pm
oh yes, thanks - signed
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: waddy on May 07, 2014, 02:22:31 pm
Done it!


 :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Helen
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: john and helen on May 07, 2014, 03:11:52 pm
done,

but still confused about halal meat…they say it is stunned in this country,
 backed by the british muslim group

yet a muslim butcher wrote…the animal needs to be totally conscious to receive the preyer
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Daisys Mum on May 07, 2014, 06:05:35 pm
Done!
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: mab on May 07, 2014, 07:55:35 pm
+1  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: bloomer on May 07, 2014, 08:03:43 pm
done,

but still confused about halal meat…they say it is stunned in this country,
 backed by the british muslim group

yet a muslim butcher wrote…the animal needs to be totally conscious to receive the preyer


there are 2 views within the muslim community some leaders insist on it being concious to hear gods name as it is slaughtered... most accept that stunning is acceptable and most halal is now stunned and the only difference to what we would accept as normal is the slaughterman must be a muslim and will say a prayer to every animal as he kills it.


So whilst i accept that unstunned Halal is wrong not all Halal is wrong...



Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: MarvinH on May 07, 2014, 08:15:51 pm
All Halal is wrong
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: bloomer on May 07, 2014, 08:16:52 pm
All Halal is wrong


on what grounds?



Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: devonlad on May 07, 2014, 08:21:56 pm
done 21333
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Marsbar on May 07, 2014, 08:29:45 pm
We have both done it  :fc:
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Herdygirl on May 07, 2014, 10:03:34 pm
Some animals for the Kosher trade are not stunned either.
 
I have signed the petition
21707
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: MarvinH on May 07, 2014, 10:59:53 pm
answer = animal welfare
All Halal is wrong


on what grounds?
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: trish.farm on May 07, 2014, 11:14:28 pm
done.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Lesley Silvester on May 07, 2014, 11:36:31 pm
I tried but apparently I'd already signed it.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Penninehillbilly on May 08, 2014, 01:31:37 am
BGS have put it out on their forum as well, over 22,000 now signed, but lets keep spreading the word, I've put it out on our local group as well, they can't ignore this amount of objection.
 
There was a tv program not long ago, some religous groups alllow stunning, some don't, but then they are only allowed to use the front end, the rest is sold to the rest of us, so any of us could be eating these poor creatures, whether we approve of the practice or not.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: FiB on May 08, 2014, 06:43:00 am
As others have said, most halal is stunned in this country. Kosher is not. Country file did a good article a little while back.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Castle Farm on May 08, 2014, 07:05:59 am
Signed it.
This needs to be stopped >:(
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: jaykay on May 08, 2014, 09:23:09 am
Signed  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: PipSqueak on May 08, 2014, 02:48:13 pm
 Signed - over 24000 now.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Somewhere_by_the_river on May 08, 2014, 04:19:39 pm
Done - 25,510 now and less than 2 hours since PipSqueak's post below so going up fast!
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: SallyintNorth on May 08, 2014, 05:12:43 pm
Done.  26,002.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Anke on May 08, 2014, 06:25:13 pm
So you want to stop the Jewish population from eating (kosher) meat in this country? Only 20% of halal meat is non-stunned in this country, but 100% of kosher meat is.... just food for thought on the religious freedom front....

All lamb imported from New Zealand is halal killed and has been for years... (but as far as I know stunned).

For any of us selling lambs (and even more so cull sheep, entire tups) at market we do NOT know how it is going to be killed.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Bramblecot on May 08, 2014, 06:34:04 pm
...which is one reason why I will not sell my animals at market.  Over 28,000 signed now.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: jaykay on May 08, 2014, 06:43:23 pm
Yes, I do want to stop the Jewish population eating 'kosher' meat if this is what it means.

It seems to me this is how religions go. Someone (Buddha, Mohammed, Jesus, whoever) makes a connection with universal truth/the universe/God/the stream of life - however you see it - and does their best to convey to others how to also connect. Initially perhaps, the first followers do what they did and also connect/get it. But gradually, the basic truth accretes all sorts of 'practices' that are more and more detached from the central truth, and more and more insisted upon by followers, 'priests' etc. And the more the practices are rigid, the more people miss the point. If you like, it's like layers of an onion and many religions, for many people, exist in the outer layers and don't even know there's a heart.

But you're never allowed to say so. You're never allowed to question every little detail. Because we respect people's religious freedom. Ok, well I do, provided it doesn't impinge upon other, more fundamental freedoms.

As far as I'm concerned, treating animals respectfully and not causing unnecessary suffering is a much closer layer to the heart than anyone's religious practices.

No doubt I will offend. But non-stun slaughter seriously offends me.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Foobar on May 08, 2014, 07:00:51 pm
It's not necessarily about stopping anyone doing anything.  It's about debating the welfare issues surrounding this subject, and labeling  produce so that the consumer can make their own mind up.  I mean who knew all NZ lamb has been pre-stunned Halal for years?  certainly not me.

Let's not get into any arguments about religion please, this isn't the place for that.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: jaykay on May 08, 2014, 07:32:43 pm
I disagree that it's not about stopping people doing things. It is. It's about a value judgement about how we (society here as a whole) want things to be done. Which values we think have priority over others. And then stopping people doing things that are against those values/priorities.

And as for not talking about 'religion and politics' - sure, it avoids arguments but it also avoids talking about many things that matter. They both impinge upon many aspects of life, including, it seems, smallholding.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: devonlad on May 08, 2014, 07:57:03 pm
Agree totally with Jaykay. one of the best things about growing my own meat is knowing how it lived and how it died. for that reason I have never and will never sell my stock at market. I then have no say in what becomes of them alive or dead- and that matters to me.
Regardless of what (or whose) name it is done in, animal cruelty is animal cruelty.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: jaykay on May 08, 2014, 08:01:19 pm
I think the trouble with that, as presented CastleFarm, is what constitutes 'incomers' and what's 'British'?

Angles, Celts, Saxons, Normans, Vikings........?

You get the drift. To fix society at a particular point in time and say 'then it was British, these 'new' people aren't' is both flawed and divisive and just has folk hating each other, which is a waste of energy, amongst much else.

The trick is for us, all together in Britain, to decide what we want. And then insist everyone abides by that. Rather than having one set of rules for one group, another for a different group. That's what gets people cross.

Britons are pretty tolerant, which is great. When that morphs into 'we really mustn't upset anyone so we won't ever discuss or challenge anything', well IMHO not so great.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Foobar on May 08, 2014, 08:02:50 pm
They both impinge upon many aspects of life, including, it seems, smallholding.
Alas yes, they do. *sigh*

The trouble with religion is that you can't really legislate against it.  If some people hold a deep religious belief on a particular subject  then nothing will stop that.  It won't matter if there are laws in place to outlaw non-stun slaughter, the practice will just go underground.  It will take several generations to change peoples mindsets through education etc. 

It would probably be better in the short term to have things licensed and labelled so that a consumer can choose to have no part in something that they don't agree with.  It is knowledge that is the key - if we as consumers have more awareness of what is actually being sold to us then we can change things, vote with your £.  If Pizza Express suddenly find now that no one wants to eat their pizzas because they have (pre stunned) Halal chicken on them, then they will change.  Knowledge, not conflict.

Personally I think I object more to someone saying a prayer over my meat than someone killing it without stunning it!  But that's just me :D.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: jaykay on May 08, 2014, 08:08:36 pm
I think there's a part for both education and labelling, but also for laws and law enforcement.

As for the stun/prayer - I might find the prayer strange but I suspect the sheep I've sent for slaughter doesn't have a view, whereas it might well have a preference on stun/no stun.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Q on May 08, 2014, 08:12:18 pm
I would be happy to achieve legislation that states whether the animal was stunned before it was killed or not.

Then I could choose what I buy rather than have some method imposed on me because it has a religious aspect to it.

I dont care much about the religion, I care for the animal's welfare, EVERY animal's welfare.

Give me information and choice - I dont have that now.

If enough people agree that non stunning slaughter is disagreeable then it will happen less..... maybe.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Cactus Jack on May 08, 2014, 08:49:18 pm
I personally object to any religion telling me how I should or should not do something. I breed, raise, slaughter and butcher ALL my own totally organic meat ( goats, pigs, ducks chickens and turkeys)
I would not dream of killing a pig or a goat without first stunning it.
I also apologise and say thank you to the animal.
What companies like Pizza Hut etc do, I don't care about, because I wouldn't eat that processed muck in the first place
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: jaykay on May 08, 2014, 09:00:23 pm
Quote
I also apologise and say thank you to the animal
Me too.

And I think that's what the 'saying a prayer' is about as well - showing respect and gratitude.

So when you remove the details of the practices and get down to the essence of them - maybe we're all more similar than different after all.

Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Lesley Silvester on May 08, 2014, 09:59:36 pm
It's the not stunning that I object to as well and I have decided that I'm not going to buy any more meat from supermarkets unless and until there is adequate labeling so that I don't inadvertently eat an animal that has been cruelly slaughtered. Ideally, I would like to see the slaughter of animals while still conscious banned totally though.


I do agree, Jaykay, that we go too far in the 'not offending people' line. Yes, we need tolerance but not at the cost of humane treatment. Did anyone see the post going round Facebook that Subway have stopped selling ham and pork so they don't offend Muslims. I hope it's not true because, if it is, that just offends non-Muslims who might want a bacon roll. It does get ridiculous.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: midtown on May 09, 2014, 12:12:23 am
Now up to almost 34,000 signatures. :thumbsup:
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: SallyintNorth on May 09, 2014, 09:49:56 am
I do agree, Jaykay, that we go too far in the 'not offending people' line.

It's being British I'm afraid - as the following shows http://www.tickld.com/x/30-problems-only-british-people-will-understand (http://www.tickld.com/x/30-problems-only-british-people-will-understand)
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Q on May 09, 2014, 10:31:26 am

It's being British I'm afraid - as the following shows http://www.tickld.com/x/30-problems-only-british-people-will-understand (http://www.tickld.com/x/30-problems-only-british-people-will-understand)

I had to laugh at this especially the 'It's being British I'm afraid'  that should be number 31.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Womble on May 09, 2014, 12:52:48 pm
There was a fascinating debate on this yesterday on Radio4. They had a chap on from the Jewish slaughter association, saying that "If you insist on labelling food as being killed by the Halal or Jewish method, you must also label it to say whether it was gassed or clubbed (he was being deliberately emotive by referring to captive bolt guns as a 'clubbing' method).
 
The response was "There's no evidence our customers want to see that", or in other words "our customers don't want to think of meat as having ever been alive, so writing 'gassed' on the packet really isn't going to help our sales figures"  :innocent: .
 
Somebody I know told me they couldn't think of anything more barbaric than raising your own chickens for meat. "Why can't you buy it from Sainsbury's like everybody else?"  ;D
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: midtown on May 09, 2014, 01:49:27 pm
Somebody I know told me they couldn't think of anything more barbaric than raising your own chickens for meat. "Why can't you buy it from Sainsbury's like everybody else?"  ;D
In my mind, that demonstrates a classical case of ignorance! In a similar fashion to those who believe their supermarket purchased litre of homogenised milk is a healthier option to a litre of full cream milk direct from the producer.

I can accept pasteurization of milk, but the fact that homogenisation was introduced by the back door with no benefits other than shelf life is increased, is deplorable.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Bramblecot on May 09, 2014, 11:44:39 pm

Somebody I know told me they couldn't think of anything more barbaric than raising your own chickens for meat. "Why can't you buy it from Sainsbury's like everybody else?"  ;D

Like my neighbour who asked me how I sleep at night after taking my lambs to the abattoir  ??? .  Silly :cow: shops at M******ns.
Title: Re: BVA petition
Post by: Herdygirl on May 10, 2014, 10:02:25 pm

Britons are pretty tolerant, which is great.

Yes we are, but 'tolerance' doesn't mean we, as Britons, like it or agree with certain, different, cultural practices.  IMHO it's about time we said that certain practices will not be 'tolerated' let alone 'accepted'.