Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

Part III Provisions relating to the slaughter of birds by a religious method

Slaughter of birds by a religious method

9.  Any person who slaughters by a religious method any bird which has not been stunned before slaughter shall ensure that—

(a) each bird is slaughtered by the severance, by rapid uninterrupted movements of a knife, of its carotid arteries; and

(b) the knife to be used for the slaughtering of the birds is undamaged and of sufficient size and sharpness to enable each bird to be slaughtered in the manner described in sub-paragraph (a).

Handling birds after slaughter by a religious method

10.  The occupier of a slaughterhouse in which birds are slaughtered by a religious method and any person engaged in the slaughter of any bird by a religious method shall ensure that, where the bird has not been stunned before bleeding, no further dressing procedure or any electrical stimulation is performed on the bird before it is unconscious and in any event not before the expiry of—

(a) in the case of a turkey or goose, a period of not less than 2 minutes; and

(b) in the case of any other bird, a period of not less than 90 seconds, after it has been slaughtered in the manner described in paragraph 9.