WITH regard to cruelty as in Kosher meat, I am afraid Jeanne Young has got her facts wrong.

I cannot speak for Halal buthchers.

For a Kosher animal to be eaten it must be slaughtered by the method known as Shechita.

This is a procedure designed to cause the least suffering to the animal. It requires a perfectly sharpened blade free from the slightest nick or uneveness. The knife swiftly moves over wind and food pipes in a fraction of a second severing the trachea and the oesophogus plus two vagus nerves as well as both carotid arteries and the jugular vein.

Research has shown that this method results in instant loss of consciousness, that the cut is itself painless (when cut by shechita, you are only aware of what happened when you see the blood), and there is no pain during the fraction of time before consciousness is completely lost.

Finally a shochet is the man designated to perform ritual slaughter. In addition to his necessary qualification of skill, he must be pious and God fearing.

Only those who understand the holiness of life are permitted to prepare an animal for human consumption.

D Porter, Furness Close, Chorley