Shechita Vindicated by Professor Sir Leonard Hill in Address to Shochtim Conference

A complete vindication of Shechita was made by Professor Sir Leonard Hill, the famous physiologist, in a speech which he delivered to-day at a Conference of the Organisation of Shochtim held here, presided over by the Chief Rabbi, Dr. J. H. Hertz.

The attainment of the greatest humanity in the slaughtering of animals for food is the aim of all of us, Sir Leonard said, and this is the aim of the Jewish laws, which enacted that there should be no delay or interruption in the cutting of the throat; that the knife must not rest and should be drawn gently, starting from the outside and not be stuck under the skin. The knife, too, must be very sharp, smooth and without any perceptible notch. There can be no question that these ancient laws were far in advance of the practices common not only at the time of their promulgation, but of recent times. The question has now been raised as to whether the Jewish method of slaughter is less humane than that of putting a bullet or bolt into the brain, and those who are leaders of humanity have been accused of inhumanity by fanatical people who allow sentiment to over-ride judgment.

All of us agree, he said, that everything should be done to do away with ill-placed and badly constructed private slaughter-houses and to secure model abattoirs; that beasts should not be overdriven to the slaughter-house and should be humanely handled in the process of bringing them to the place of and into the required position of slaughtering. In my experience cattle are not frightened by the sight of carcases or the smell of blood, but are alarmed by the dim moving figures of men in the slaughter-house. Animals, no less so children and natives, are not frightened by objects of which they have no experience, as witness the indifference of lions to the motor-car in the wilds of Africa.

We all agree that pens should be arranged narrowing to a point, so that each animal walks from outside to the place of slaughter without disturbance by men. At the end necessary traps should be used to bring animals into the required position.

Objection has been taken to the casting of bullocks, which is required to get the animal into the right position for slaughter by the Jewish method. The two legs on one side are fastened to tackle which is raised by a pulley so that the animal is made to fall on to the knee of the free foreleg, and roll over on to its side. There is no inhumanity in this operation when swiftly and skilfully carried out. We do not consider it inhuman when we watch the tackling of a Rugby football player or of a wrestler by one leg and see him thrown over, but we insist that this be done skilfully and not with careless violence. The animal must be thrown into a confusional state by the operation of casting.

JEWISH METHOD OF CUTTING THROAT HUMANE AND HYGIENIC: JEWISH METHOD OF BLEEDING AND SALTING DESIGNED TO GET RID OF BLOOD AND PRODUCE UNTAINTED MEAT: BLOOD ALWAYS CONTAINS FEW LIVING MICROBES CAPABLE OF TURNING MEAT BAD WHICH MULTIPLY RAPIDLY IF BLOOD LEFT BEHIND: WEINBERG PEN OR SIMILAR INVENTION HAS GREAT ADVANTAGE IN CASTING

The fixing of the head in position by means of a chain passed through the mouth and round the lower jaw and the use of an iron bar inserted in this chain as a lever is also objected to as cruel. In judging of this procedure it should be borne in mind than a chain is used as a bit in the mouth of all horses and this is pulled on to make them go straight.

The Weinberg Pen, or some similar invention has great advantage, in that the bullock can be guided into it, and then revolved into the required position without any handling at all. I have no doubt, Sir Leonard said, that the animal is brought by this method into a confusional state, which is equivalent to a hypnotic condition, and it is then that without delay the throat is cut.

By means of an alternating current of about 60 volts passed through the head of a calf or sheep it can be anesthetised in a very few seconds, and then the throat can be cut and the animal bled to death. The respiration is arrested by the electric shock and the blood-pressure rises. The bleeding is very free, the animal being, of course, suspended head down.

Sir Leonard referred to a recent publication entitled "Pistol versus Pole-axe", in which, he said, it was claimed that the movement of a bullock for several minutes after the cutting of the throat were decidedly conscious and purposive. Now I want to put before you the opinion, he said, that it is not possible to judge consciousness in animals by movements. If we take movement in animals which appear to be purposive as a sign of consciousness, then we must accept the fact that consciousness is seated in them in the lower nerve centres, and we cannot say that the shooting of a bolt into the cerebrum destroys its consciousness.

Sir Leonard said that after the report of the Admiralty Committee, the late Mr. Openshaw, a distinguished surgeon of London Hospital, and he investigated the Jewish method of slaughter both at the Birkenhead and the Deptford slaughter-houses. We were convinced, he said, that there was no trustworthy evidence of consciousness persisting after the throat had been cut.

There was ample evidence, Sir Leonard concluded, that th## complete severance of the carotid arteries at once produces loss of consciousness and that no pain would be felt at the moment of cutting the throat with a sharp knife used in the Jewish method. Further, that consciousness is lost on division of the carotid arteries so quickly that death is brought about in a most humane way. There is a very complete bleeding of the animal after the carotids are cut. The blood always contains a few living microbes capable of turning meat bad, and these multiply rapidly if the blood is left behind in the blood vessels.

The Jewish method of bleeding and salting is designed to get rid of the blood to the utmost, and so produce untainted meat. The method of cutting the throat is therefore humane, and hygienic, and a proper apparatus for the casting of bullocks must be used and every provision made for the comfort of animals previous to slaughter.