Until 2018, one particularly torturous practice virtually unique to the kosher industry was the "shackle and hoist" method of slaughtering livestock, particularly cattle, where the animal's hind leg is chained using an assembly-line apparatus where the animals are suspended for minutes at a time while awaiting their turn to be slaughtered, and then the animal is hoisted up and dropped to the ground thereby fulfilling the kosher stringency for the animal to be upside down when slaughtered. The nation’s most famous animal welfare expert, Dr. Temple Grandin, who has been a great friend of kosher slaughter, describes “shackle and hoist” slaughter as "in a category by itself for badness," as it causes tremendous suffering to the animal and endangers the factory workers as well. And, when pressured by kosher slaughterhouses, which were to incur considerable expenses eliminating the ‘shackle and hoist’ mechanisms, Rabbi Soloveitchik replied, “I am willing to fight to defend shechita, but not shackle and hoist!" This cruel practice has been abandoned and sometimes outlawed in the United States, Israel, and the European Union.
To the great credit of the kosher industry, for years, no large kosher certifications companies in the United States would certify as kosher meat from animals slaughtered by the shackle and hoist method if those animals were killed on US soil, but much of the kosher meat came from herds raised on the pampas of Argentina and Uruguay, where shackling and hoisting is the dominant kosher slaughter method and both American and Israeli kosher agencies would certify shackle-and-hoist animals from these countries.
After years of Shamayim V'Aretz's leaders and followers writing articles, teaching, petitioning, calling, emailing, making videos, and more, as of 2017, Israel no longer allows beef from slaughterhouses that use shackle and hoist to be imported. And, in 2018, the Orthodox Union, the leading kosher authority in the United States, has promised to no longer certify shackle-and-hoist meat as kosher.
There is still much cruelty in the meat industry, including the kosher meat industry, but this is a huge step towards a more compassionate food system.
To the great credit of the kosher industry, for years, no large kosher certifications companies in the United States would certify as kosher meat from animals slaughtered by the shackle and hoist method if those animals were killed on US soil, but much of the kosher meat came from herds raised on the pampas of Argentina and Uruguay, where shackling and hoisting is the dominant kosher slaughter method and both American and Israeli kosher agencies would certify shackle-and-hoist animals from these countries.
After years of Shamayim V'Aretz's leaders and followers writing articles, teaching, petitioning, calling, emailing, making videos, and more, as of 2017, Israel no longer allows beef from slaughterhouses that use shackle and hoist to be imported. And, in 2018, the Orthodox Union, the leading kosher authority in the United States, has promised to no longer certify shackle-and-hoist meat as kosher.
There is still much cruelty in the meat industry, including the kosher meat industry, but this is a huge step towards a more compassionate food system.
Resources
Warning: some footage is graphic.
Israel Bans Gruesome Shackle And Hoist Slaughterhouse Method Imports
For years, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel said they would ban “shackle and hoist” imports, but they took no action. Now Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has decided to put its foot down: in a stunning and, frankly, brave move, Israel just banned all “shackle and hoist” imports — effective immediately for new slaughterhouses, and with a deadline of June 1, 2018 for all currently authorized foreign facilities to transition to rotating boxes for use in kosher slaughter. Continue reading>
Undercover Investigation Reveals 'Incredibly Disturbing' Kosher Slaughter in South America
Undercover video footage taken by the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals revealed the persistence of the practice, which the OU has condemned for years. Their investigation was a joint venture with the Israeli group “Anonymous for Animal Rights.” Continue reading>
Shackle and Hoist Video
A PETA investigation of a South American slaughterhouse that supplies kosher meat to the U.S. and Israel reveals the continued use of "shackle and hoist" despite promises from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel to phase out this method of slaughter. Watch it here>
Widespread Slaughter Method Scrutinized for Alleged Cruelty
Over the past few decades, kosher meat producers have learned what many others in the industry know: The broad expanses of rural Argentina and Uruguay have everything needed to make great beef, with a stable climate and seemingly endless pastures for grazing. The labor is cheap, and the open pastures on which the cows are raised mean that much of the meat can be marketed with those increasingly alluring tags of “natural” and “free range. Continue reading>
Chief Rabbinate ‘against’ shackle-and-hoist method
Kashrut, other dietary activists: South American practice of chaining steer’s leg to lift animal for ritual slaughter is cruel, abusive. Read more>
Conservative Movement's Teshuva on Shackling & Hoisting
Now that kosher, humane slaughter using upright pens is both possible and widespread, we find shackling and hoisting to be a violation of Jewish laws forbidding cruelty to animals and requiring that we avoid unnecessary dangers to human life. As the CJLS, then, we rule that shackling and hoisting should be stopped. Read more>
Widely condemned cattle-killing method is used by kosher meat firm's supplier
Import records and undercover video show the 'shackle-and-hoist' slaughter technique is used at a South American plant that supplies Alle Processing, the biggest seller of kosher meat in the U.S. Read more>
Farm Forward's Updates on Shackling and Hoisting
Read more>
A Cut Above:Shechita in the Crosshairs, Again by Rabbi Moshe T. Schuchman, Star-K Kashrus Administrator
When pressured by kosher slaughterhouses, which were to incur considerable expenses eliminating the ‘shackle and hoist’ mechanisms, Rabbi Soloveitchik replied, “I am willing to fight to defend shechita, but not shackle and hoist!” Read more>
Israel Bans Gruesome Shackle And Hoist Slaughterhouse Method Imports
For years, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel said they would ban “shackle and hoist” imports, but they took no action. Now Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has decided to put its foot down: in a stunning and, frankly, brave move, Israel just banned all “shackle and hoist” imports — effective immediately for new slaughterhouses, and with a deadline of June 1, 2018 for all currently authorized foreign facilities to transition to rotating boxes for use in kosher slaughter. Continue reading>
Undercover Investigation Reveals 'Incredibly Disturbing' Kosher Slaughter in South America
Undercover video footage taken by the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals revealed the persistence of the practice, which the OU has condemned for years. Their investigation was a joint venture with the Israeli group “Anonymous for Animal Rights.” Continue reading>
Shackle and Hoist Video
A PETA investigation of a South American slaughterhouse that supplies kosher meat to the U.S. and Israel reveals the continued use of "shackle and hoist" despite promises from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel to phase out this method of slaughter. Watch it here>
Widespread Slaughter Method Scrutinized for Alleged Cruelty
Over the past few decades, kosher meat producers have learned what many others in the industry know: The broad expanses of rural Argentina and Uruguay have everything needed to make great beef, with a stable climate and seemingly endless pastures for grazing. The labor is cheap, and the open pastures on which the cows are raised mean that much of the meat can be marketed with those increasingly alluring tags of “natural” and “free range. Continue reading>
Chief Rabbinate ‘against’ shackle-and-hoist method
Kashrut, other dietary activists: South American practice of chaining steer’s leg to lift animal for ritual slaughter is cruel, abusive. Read more>
Conservative Movement's Teshuva on Shackling & Hoisting
Now that kosher, humane slaughter using upright pens is both possible and widespread, we find shackling and hoisting to be a violation of Jewish laws forbidding cruelty to animals and requiring that we avoid unnecessary dangers to human life. As the CJLS, then, we rule that shackling and hoisting should be stopped. Read more>
Widely condemned cattle-killing method is used by kosher meat firm's supplier
Import records and undercover video show the 'shackle-and-hoist' slaughter technique is used at a South American plant that supplies Alle Processing, the biggest seller of kosher meat in the U.S. Read more>
Farm Forward's Updates on Shackling and Hoisting
Read more>
A Cut Above:Shechita in the Crosshairs, Again by Rabbi Moshe T. Schuchman, Star-K Kashrus Administrator
When pressured by kosher slaughterhouses, which were to incur considerable expenses eliminating the ‘shackle and hoist’ mechanisms, Rabbi Soloveitchik replied, “I am willing to fight to defend shechita, but not shackle and hoist!” Read more>