Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) animals and (b) poultry killed without first being stunned in the last 12 months for which data is available; and what steps he is taking to reduce those numbers.

Data for the number of animals killed without first being stunned was previously collected through surveys, with the last in 2015. In the last survey during a 4 week period there were 2,614 cattle, 274,464 sheep and 3,421,470 poultry slaughtered without stunning in the UK with a further 9,463,845 poultry birds slaughtered in accordance with religious rites using electrical stunning parameters that are different to those required for mainstream slaughter.

At the beginning of this financial year the FSA started collecting data on a regular basis. We do not have data for a full 12 month period, however, in the first quarter of 2017/18 there were 4390 cattle and 758,263 sheep slaughtered without stunning in England and Wales.

In the first quarter, there were also 45,396,583 birds which were slaughtered without stunning or using electrical stunning parameters that are different to those required for mainstream slaughter. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) does not separate out poultry slaughtered without stunning in their data.

The Government would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter but respects the right of Jewish and Muslim communities to eat meat prepared in accordance with their beliefs.