Using Microwave Energy For Better Welfare During Slaughter
When it comes to the meat industry and animal slaughter, there is perhaps no issue as divisive as stunning (that is, except slaughter itself). Stunning of animals before slaughter is considered to be an imperative for some, but is generally forbidden in kosher and halal diets because of directives in Jewish and Muslim texts which require the animal to be “whole and undamaged” before slaughter or exsanguination. In studies related to the issue, researchers have found that the crux of it is the factor of reversibility: the method of stunning needs to not injure the animal, and instead create a fully reversible stunned state from which the animal can recover. Current common methods such as captive bolt stunning are not acceptable, as such methods are not reversible or recoverable. The kosher and halal markets are huge, so creating a reversible stunning method that would be compliant with both has the potential to greatly minimize the suffering of a lot of animals.
This study looked at one such method, the “microwave-generated dielectric stun system, which produces an electromagnetic field within the brain, raising the brain temperature to the point at which insensibility occurs,” specifically as it relates to cows. Preliminary studies on both cadaver heads and live sheep showed that the method was a potentially suitable method of inducing a fully reversible stun. To study this effect on cows, the researchers sourced 20 cow heads from a local abattoir and, replicating the conditions of how microwaves would be administered in an abattoir setting, tested the effect of the microwaves on brain tissue. They note that the main difficulty in administering this method of stunning is penetrating the brain with waves and reducing “excessive surface heating” of the skin. Though they was able to achieve that with some experimentation, they note that their method could be further refined to prevent such problems, and heat the brain the necessary 6-8C it needs to induce insensibility.
Though the very idea of microwaving the brains of farmed animals may seem macabre and cruel, the evidence here seems to suggest that it is one potential avenue to increase welfare during halal and kosher slaughter. The authors suggest future research needs to be done to show that the method of stunning is indeed fully recoverable, and developing a set of guidelines for how to apply the method to different individual animals.