Posted: November 12th, 2009 - 4:16pm
Source: The Age

The World Society for the Protection of Animals has condemned the Federal Government for allowing the ritual slaughter of conscious animals for halal and kosher meat to continue in Australian abattoirs.
The organisation, the world's largest federation of animal welfare societies, said the Government's position could ''open the floodgates'' for demand for the ''inhumane'' slaughter method in the Middle East.
''By allowing ritual slaughter without stunning, federal and state ministers are damaging Australia's international reputation as a progressive country,'' the society's farm animals program manager, Amy Firth, said. ''With the Middle East being Australia's biggest export market, the resulting impact this could have on the welfare of Australian animals should not be underestimated.''
The Barristers Animal Welfare Panel, consisting of 90 barristers including 20 silks, also spoke out on the issue yesterday, saying it would urge all federal MPs to put a stop to ritual slaughter without stunning.