Shechita UK has condemned the findings of a report presented to Reform rabbis this week which argues that it would be better to pre-stun animals before slaughter.

In a strong reaction, Shimon Cohen, director of the shechita defence campaign, attacked it as a “potentially dangerous intervention”. 

The report was summarised in an article in this week’s JC by the chairman of the working party which produced it, Rabbi Jonathan Romain of Maidenhead Synagogue. 

Rabbi Romain wrote that  “it quickly became clear that the vast majority of scientific opinion has no doubt that animals suffer less if they are pre-stunned.  

“Shechita - involving the use of a razor sharp knife by a trained expert – is certainly very good, but not as good. For centuries, shechita was better and the problem for Jews today is which method to prefer given this change.” 

The main objection to pre-stunning for shechita, he wrote, was “that animals have to be unblemished before slaughter, so pre-stunning would render them damaged. But could it be ruled that so long as animals are perfectly healthy before being stunned, they will still be kosher? Why not?” 

The report concluded that pre-stunning was “almost certainly better for animals. If rabbis refuse to adopt it, then Jews who value both pre-stunning and the practices of traditional kashrut have to make a choice: stick with non-stunned certified kosher meat or opt for pre-stunned meat from a permitted animal (and, ideally, organic).” 

Those who “wish both to reduce as much pain as possible for animals yet remain within the traditional framework of Jewish food face a dilemma,” he said. “At present, it is simply impossible to do both. We each have to weigh up those competing values.” 

As methods of pre-stunning improved, Rabbi Romain said, “so will demands to adhere to it from inside and outside the government. Rabbis of all groupings need to consider how best to adapt to the legal and moral challenges that will come our way.” 

But Mr Cohen responded that “the woeful ignorance displayed in this article, which has attempted to take a definitive stance on a complex and conflicting body of scientific evidence, is a potentially dangerous interference and is frankly a reckless disgrace”.  

The working party, he said, “made no meaningful attempt to engage with experts, to study the science or understand the political landscape in order to understand any of these issues. This article is a cheap and destructive media gimmick or at best a shocking display of ignorance and political pandering. In no way is it a serious engagement around animal slaughter or freedom of religious practice. We call for its withdrawal.”

In a letter to the JC posted on social media, the co-chairs of the Assembly Rabbis Kathleen Middleton and James Baaden emphasised that support for pre-stunning did not represent Reform policy.

"We talk through a whole range of issues throughout the year and the paper referred to was but one of a number of discussion documents we review from time to time," they wrote. "We do not plan to change our current position on shechita."

READ MORE: It is better for animals to be stunned before slaughter