JEWISH SLAUGHTER
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—It is with great regret that I enter the lists on the wrong side in a matter relating to humane slaughter, but the Duchess of Hamilton's description of shechita is not quite fair to the Jews. One would like to know what test the Duchess applied when she found that consciousness endured for seven minutes after the cut, for the carcase is emptied of blood in much less time than that.
It is true that stunning is the only method whose complete freedom from pain is beyond dispute, and it is also true that there is no really verifiable test for the waning of consciousness ; but weight must be attached to the facts that the beasts do not flinch at the moment when the cut is made by the shoehet, as I have often noticed that the blood-pressure in the brain is rapidly lowered by the cut, and that veterinary surgeons, who unanimously condemn as cruel the present methods of casting, do not raise any objection to shechita itself.
If the Jews succeed in introducing a humane method of casting, it would seem pedantic for Gentiles to ask them to abandon shechita; indeed, that is not a practical policy.— I am, Sir, &c., C. W. HUME. 14 The Hawthorns, Pinchley, N. 3.
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