We believe that suffering at slaughter can be avoided, provided certain basic principles are met:

The transport and handling of the animal prior to slaughter minimises stress
Death is instantaneous, or
The animal is instantaneously stunned and remains unconscious until dead
The method of inducing unconsciousness and death is not in itself likely to cause stress

UK law requires animals to be effectively stunned before slaughter to prevent pain and distress but unfortunately it is not always applied in practice.

How UK Slaughter Laws Fail Farmed Animals

Loopholes, poor enforcement, and a lack of effective legislation can all impact the welfare of animals at the time of slaughter:

Legal methods that cause suffering: Around 9 million pigs in the UK are killed using carbon dioxide (CO₂ ) gas every year. This causes a burning, air-hunger sensation and can lead to 15–60 seconds of intense suffering before pigs lose consciousness.
Weak protection for fish: Around 45 million fish are farmed in UK fisheries. Whilst existing legislation on the protection of animals at the time of killing requires that farmed fish be spared avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing, unlike terrestrial livestock farmed fish have no further detailed protections in domestic law (such as detailed requirements to stun fish pre-slaughter).
Non stun exemptions in the law: UK law allows slaughter without stunning for Halal and Kosher purposes. We would prefer all animals to be stunned before they are slaughtered. However, we understand that the exemption to this requirement is to ensure that religious groups can consume meat that align with their beliefs. As a minimum, we need regulations to ensure that no more animals are being slaughtered without stunning than are needed to meet the requirements of the religious communities. For example, the percentage of sheep that are slaughtered using a non-stun method has risen sharply to 29% in the latest data, up 6% from 2022.
Ineffective stunning: Even when stunning is required, it does not always work as intended. Animals may be only immobilised rather than unconscious due to low electrical currents, equipment failures, or human error — meaning they can still feel pain and distress.
Chickens still conscious at slaughter: According to the Food Standards Agency, around 2% of chickens may be slaughtered without stunning, with a further 1% stunned using electrical settings that are unlikely to be effective, leaving some birds conscious when their throats are cut.
Lack of transparency: There is no mandatory method-of-slaughter labelling, meaning shoppers often have no way of knowing how the animal they buy was killed.

For too long, large numbers of animals in Britain have been killed in a way that causes immense suffering - but which is within the law. Although some progress has been made - such as the Government's introduction of legislation requiring CCTV in all slaughterhouses in Great Britain - it is essential that UK decision makers introduce legislative requirements to require the humane slaughter of farmed fish, to end the use of cruel CO₂ gas stunning for pigs, for a mandatory method of slaughter labelling. Ultimately, we would like to see an end to all non-stun slaughter.

At the end of 2025 the UK Government released its Animal Welfare strategy. We were pleased to see proposals to consult on the phasing out of CO₂ gas stunning for pigs and for legislation on humane slaughter for farmed fish. We will continue working hard to turn these plans into reality. You can find out more about our work on CO₂ stunning and fish slaughter, and how you can help, below.