PETA - People Eating Tasty Animals

If God didn't want us eating animals, why did He make them out of meat? :-D

A couple of friends and I were discussing the various methods used to slaughter animals (over lunch, when else) and we got to talking about the Halaal method (where a stroke through the neck severs every vein, artery and the wind-pipe, but leaves the spinal column intact) versus the Jhatka method (lit. jerk - where the animal is decapitated in one stroke). The debate revolved around which method caused the least pain to the animal, with most people automatically assuming that the Jhatka method was more painless.

I disagree.

In both methods, the animal eventually becomes unconscious due to a lack of blood going to the brain and the resultant drop in blood pressure. In the Jhatka method, since the animal is decapitated and the head is no longer attached to the body, we don't see the animal kick about and grunt as animals being slaughtered are wont to do. However, the sensation of 'pain' is interpreted by the brain and as long as that is active, the animal will suffer. The head being separated from the body doesn't make any difference.

Since in both methods, the blood flow is disrupted and in one we have the additional pain of the spine being cut through, the Jhatka method should logically be the more painful of the two, with the added disadvantage of not keeping the heart going for as long as possible to clear out as much of the pathogen carrying blood as possible.

It's just an illusion that Jhatka is more merciful, brought on by the stillness of the decapitated animal corpse. A final verdict awaits the time when it will be possible for us to measure and quantify 'pain' as a value...

Hungry kya? :-P