Omnivors in the Bar

Strange bedfellows attended the Tavern today: some usually found outside the hedge. And even more strangely I had actually invited a few in ! And it was all to do with food, so my chef was there too amongst the customers, white hat poking up in the throng. He was dishing up steaks.

A couple of RSPCA folk had come by with some 'complaint' (not about our restaurant, I hasten to add, nor about how my steed is quartered) and I sent one out to find a PETA person or two from amongst the usual howling mobs that we usually keep out, with the intent of giving them a drink or two. 

Both small groups, usually at each other's throats, were united for once in the 'complaint'. 

Oz is beset by strange and unwholesome customs introduced by folk who, frankly, have no place being here in Oz at all. I speak of Muslims. They have got our politicians by the short and curlies, imposing 'Halal' on every damned thing in sight and charging us for the anti-privilege. Even Chocolate !!  ( I will not permit as much as a Cadbury Dairly Milk bar in the bar). Mulsims kill, nastily, and not just other people. 

They are cruel to animals. Officially.

The PETA people, moronic mostly, joined the RSPCA, nice folk mostly, in objecting to Halal methods.

Now, it has to be said, very slightly unpaletable as it may be to some, but we human beings are meat-eaters. 

And animals have to be eaten when dead. 

We learned early on that animals kick up a fuss when eaten alive. They scatter the plates and table settings all over the place. So we have to kill them first. And cook them. 

But most of us actually like animals. I do. I like pretty well all animals, and I am especially fond - even fascinated - by some. 

But some we eat. I like a nice beef steak. I like bacon. I will even settle for chicken. I prefer dogs to run along side me though. We don't eat dogs. Civilised 'we' that is. Or cats. I stop well short of frogs and snails too. There are very strange folk in the world.

But if we have to kill an animal, we need to do it with some respect for Life. Especially the animal's life that is given up for our dinner. 

Steven Johnson was holding forth about it.

'They are in pain': 

Australian animal rights groups demand an end to Muslim halal slaughter where livestock have their throats slit while they are conscious after Belgium brings in ban

RSPCA and PETA have demanded an end to halal and kosher slaughter practices

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6567357/RSPCA-PETA-demand-end-halal-kosher-slaughter-practices-animals-conscious.html 

Livestock are conscious when throats are slit under Muslim and Jewish custom

The Flanders region in northern Belgium has outlawed traditional abattoir killing

Australia has agreed that meat export to Indonesia will be killed the halal way  

Australia's peak animal rights groups have demanded an end to halal and kosher slaughter practices where livestock have their throats slit while they are conscious.

The RSPCA and PETA want animals to be stunned first before they are killed, after the Flanders region in northern Belgium outlawed traditional Muslim and Jewish abattoir customs.

Complicating the issue is how Australia in March 2017 backed new Indonesia laws which will require, from October 2019, all meat exported to the Muslim-majority nation to be slaughtered the halal way.

Australia's peak animal rights groups have demanded an end to halal and kosher slaughter practices where livestock have their throats slit while they are conscious

Despite Indonesia sourcing 80 per cent of its beef from Australia, the RSPCA  says religious exemptions allowing animals to be conscious when they are killed .....

needed to end.

'A small number of abattoirs in Australia have an exemption to slaughter animals without prior stunning, authorised by state food authorities,' it said.

'This means that animals are fully conscious and experience pain and distress at the time of slaughter. 

'The RSPCA believes all animals should be stunned prior to slaughter.'

The RSPCA and PETA want animals to be stunned first before they are killed, after the Flanders region in northern Belgium outlawed traditional Muslim and Jewish abattoir customs

PETA, also known as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said most animals were fully conscious when their throats were cut under halal and kosher slaughter conditions.

What is halal slaughter?

Halal is an Arabic term for permissible.

For the meat to be lawful in the Muslim faith, the meat or poultry must be slaughtered as part of a ritual known as Zibah or Zabihah.

The blood must be drained from the carcass, which means the throat of the animal is slit.

An animal must not be dead before the ritual and a Muslim is required to perform the slaughter.

'They are absolutely and understandably terrified when chains are shackled to their legs and they are hoisted into the air upside down'.

'For cattle and sheep who are killed without pre-stunning, unconsciousness can take several agonisingly painful seconds to come after their throats are cut.' 

In March 2017, then trade minister Steven Ciobo visited Indonesia for three days.

Mr Ciobo used the occasion to announce Australia would back upcoming Indonesia laws, coming into force in October 2019, which will require beef cattle and sheep to have their throats cut to be widely marketed in the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation.

Follow the money. And weep. 

There is no reasonable excuse for shipping live animals thousands of miles by sea when they could be exported, processed, humanely.

Let them eat cake.

To qualify as halal, or permissible in Islam, live animals must have their throats cut as part of the slaughter and die from blood loss.

In most cases, animals are stunned before they are slaughtered however, state government laws in Australia grant religious exemptions, which mean the livestock can still be conscious when it is killed. 

The Flanders region in northern Belgium has effectively banned traditional halal and kosher slaughter practices since January 1, when the law first proposed in 2017 came into force.

The French-speaking Wallonia region in southern Belgium will officially ban those practices in September. 

When legislation was first proposed in May 2017, it was slammed as 'the greatest assault on Jewish religious rights since Nazi occupation' by the European Jewish Congress. 

Indeed, the Jewish practice is virtually identical to the Muslim practice. And neither will eat bacon. I have no problem with them not eating pork, but I do have a problem with the way both kill animals for consumption.

It is inhumane.

I served the PETA people and the RSPCA folk some fine ale.

Then I sent the PETA loonies back outside the hedge.

"Ahh, but.... what about hunting and fishing", cried someone. 

"Honourable enterprises", said I.

That was sure to set a cat amongst the pidgeons.

It did.

I busied m'self serving pints.

Drink up.

Pax