The Brain, Unconsciousness and Death: A Critical Appraisal with Regard to Halal Meat Production
Muslims derive their dietary laws from the Quran (Islamic Holy Book) and other Islamic scriptures. These religious scriptures prohibit them from consuming meat from animals that die before they are bled-out. Some Muslim authorities have interpreted this to mean that, in addition to the animal being alive, it must also be conscious prior to neck-cutting. […]
Onset of sentience: The potential for suffering in fetal and newborn farm animals
Sentience and consciousness are prerequisites of suffering. Thus, animals must have sufficiently sophisticated neural mechanisms to receive sensory information and to transduce this information into sensations, and they must also be conscious to be able to perceive those sensations. Moreover, those sensations must be sufficiently noxious or aversive to cause suffering. The neural apparatus of […]