Editing Exsanguination (section)

== Slaughtering of animals ==
[[File:Schect.jpg|thumb|15th-century depiction of exsanguination as part of [[Jewish ritual slaughter]] of animals for consumption]]
Exsanguination is used as a [[Animal slaughter|slaughter]] method.  Before the fatal incision is made, the animal will be rendered insensible to pain by various methods, including [[Captive bolt pistol|captive bolt]], electricity, or chemical. Electricity is used mostly to incapacitate [[Domestic pig|swine]], [[poultry]], and [[domestic sheep]], whereas a chemical is used for injured [[livestock]].{{cn|date=February 2020}}

Without prior sedation, stunning, or anesthetic, this method of slaughter may cause a high degree of [[anxiety]], depending on the process. How animals are handled and restrained before slaughter likely impacts their welfare more than whether or not they are stunned.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Rushen |editor1-first=Jeffrey |editor2-last=de Passile |editor2-first=Anne Marie |editor3-last=von Keyserlingk |editor3-first=Marina A.G. |display-editors = 3 |editor4-last=Weary |editor4-first=Daniel M. |year=2008 |title=The Welfare of Cattle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OEp52JU9IEwC |page=140 |location=Dordrecht, The Netherlands |publisher=Springer |isbn=9781402065583 }}</ref> If done badly, there can be a large element of cruelty involved,<ref>{{cite web
|url         = http://www.grandin.com/ritual/welfare.diffs.sheep.cattle.html
|title       = Welfare During Slaughter without stunning (Kosher or Halal) differences between Sheep and Cattle
|first       = Temple
|last        = Grandin
|author-link  = Temple Grandin
|date=August 2011
|access-date  =3 January 2012
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://forward.com/articles/137318/maximizing-animal-welfare-in-kosher-slaughter/ |title=Temple Grandin ''Maximising Animal Welfare in Kosher Slaughter |date=28 April 2011 |publisher=Forward.com |access-date=2014-01-15}}</ref><ref>Temple Grandin ''Thinking in Pictures. My Life with Autism''</ref> whereas killing under the correct conditions minimizes the pain or suffering, if any, inflicted upon the animal.<ref name="schulze_halastudy">Schulze W, Schultze-Petzold H, Hazem AS, Gross R. ''Experiments for the objectification of pain and consciousness during conventional (captive bolt stunning) and religiously mandated ("ritual cutting") slaughter procedures for sheep and calves.'' Deutsche Tierärztliche Wochenschrift 1978 Feb 5;85(2):62–66. [http://www.mustaqim.co.uk/halalstudy.htm English translation by Dr Sahib M. Bleher]</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Is Shechita Humane?|url=http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/222248/jewish/Is-Shechita-Humane.htm|work=Dr. Temple Grandin, Dr. Flemming Bager |publisher=Chabad.org|access-date=2014-04-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.grandin.com/ritual/rec.ritual.slaughter.html |title=Recommended Ritual Slaughter Practices |publisher=Grandin.com }}</ref>

Continued pumping operation of the [[heart]] during exsanguination increases the rate of depletion and thus hastens [[Clinical death|death]] by raising the fluid pressure of the blood. Because the heart operates like a [[positive displacement pump]], blood volume reduction will not affect cardiac output efficiency. Deprivation of blood to the heart does gradually result in [[Ischemia|diminished function]], but concurrently with similar death of other parts in the body as blood volume declines.

In preparation for slaughter, an animal is hanged head-down by its hind legs. Quickly after the animal is incapacitated, a very sharp knife, in an orientation parallel to the ground, is inserted through the skin just in front of the point of the [[jaw]] and below the vertebrate. From this position, the knife is drawn forward away from the spine to sever the [[jugular veins]], [[carotid arteries]], and [[windpipe|trachea]]. Properly performed, blood will flow freely, and [[death]] will occur within seconds. Sheep and duck will reach heart and liver malfunction, leading to death, in under 10 seconds; larger animals, notably cattle, may take up to 40 seconds to reach brain death. This period may extend to a couple of minutes if complications, such as arterial occlusion, occur. However, the animal's inverted position allows blood to flow more precipitously, thus making it highly unlikely for an animal to regain consciousness before it is fully exsanguinated. In any case, animal welfare advisory councils clearly emphasize that the time from incapacitation to the start of exsanguination should be prompt, recommending a time under 15 seconds.<ref name="FAWC">{{cite web|url=http://www.fawc.org.uk/reports/pb8347.pdf|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121007104210/http://www.fawc.org.uk/reports/pb8347.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-10-07|year=2003|title=Report on the Welfare of Farmed Animals at Slaughter or Killing. Part 1: Red Meat Animals|publisher=Defra}}</ref>

Beyond the initial cost of purchasing a captive bolt, continued usage of the method is very inexpensive. The animal is incapacitated for the duration of the procedure, so it is one of the safest methods for the slaughterer.

===In Jewish and Islamic slaughter===
Jewish ''[[kashrut]]'' (kosher) and Islamic ''[[dhabihah]]'' (halal) dietary laws mandate that slaughter is performed with a cut that immediately severs the esophagus, trachea, and the large blood vessels in the neck, causing loss of consciousness and death by exsanguination. The double-edged pointed knife is prohibited. Instead, a long knife with a squared-off end is used that, in Jewish law, must be at least twice the width of the animal's neck. The operation of sticking or exsanguination is executed faster than when using the pointed knife, as four large blood vessels in the neck are severed simultaneously.

In [[Sharia|Islamic]] and [[Halakha|Jewish law]], captive bolts and other methods of pre-slaughter paralysis are not permissible, as consumption of animals found dead are regarded as [[carrion]] and stunned animals that are later killed fall into this category.{{cn|date=December 2018}} Various halal food authorities have more recently permitted the use of a recently developed [[fail-safe]] system of head-only stunning using a mushroom-shaped hammerhead that delivers a blow that is not fatal, proved by it being possible to reverse the procedure and revive the animal after the shock.<ref>{{cite web |author=Masood Khawaja |title=Definition of Halal |publisher=Halal Food Authority |date=6 October 2001 |url=http://www.halalfoodauthority.co.uk/define.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20090427045541/http://www.halalfoodauthority.co.uk/define.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 April 2009 |access-date=2011-10-24}}</ref>

Such methods, particularly involving unstunned animals, have been criticized by veterinarians and animal welfare organizations, among others. Prohibitions against unstunned slaughter have been enacted in several countries. See [[Shechita#Animal welfare controversies|Animal welfare controversies in shechita]] for further information.