The All Party Parliamentary Group for Beef and Lamb has published its report on meat slaughtered in accordance with religious rites. The report identifies several areas where greater research is needed and also makes a number of recommendations on the matter of labelling and traceability to help consumers from all communities make informed decisions when purchasing meat.

Commenting on the report, BVA President and veterinary surgeon Robin Hargreaves said, "BVA has long held the position that slaughter without pre-stunning unnecessarily compromises animal welfare at the time of death. We are also concerned that meat from non-stun slaughter is entering the market unlabelled because there is no requirement to label meat and meat products with the method of slaughter.

"We believe strongly that food should be labelled as stunned or non-stunned and we are delighted that the all-party group supports the BVA call for clearer labelling.

"The issue of non-stun slaughter continues to generate media and political interest, and rightly so. Scientific evidence shows that slaughter without pre-stunning compromises animal welfare; a position supported by the Humane Slaughter Association, the Farm Animal Welfare Council, the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe and the European Food Safety Authority. We have a moral obligation to each animal we keep: any unnecessary pain should be eliminated."

Hargreaves welcomed the MPs' inquiry, which identified areas for research including gathering evidence on certain stunning methods, which could potentially reassure some religious communities that slaughter remains compatible with their requirements.

"BVA has been at the forefront of the campaign to ensure all animals are effectively stunned before slaughter and, with the support of the RSPCA, we launched a government e-petition calling for an end to non-stun slaughter on animal welfare grounds. We’ve reached over 71,000 signatures already but we hope to achieve 100,000 signatures so that consideration will be given to a debate in the House of Commons,” the BVA president added.