OPINION: Animal welfare is a painful issue at this time of year

To add to your other problems there is going to be a shortage of turkeys this winter because Avian Flu is killing them left, right and centre. To such an extent that 2.3 million chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese have had to be killed already to stop the infection spreading. That’s two fifths of the total in the country.

One of the culprits for the spread is wild birds. Do you know that no less than 55 million pheasants and partridges are raised every year to be let loose when they’re older and shot. Of course a lot are only wounded and die in agony, and you would expect the British Veterinary Association and the RSPCA to campaign vigorously for the government to put a stop to the slaughter.

What both organisations do is protest at the shechita and halal bodies refusing to pre-stun animals before they are killed. The chief medical adviser to the vets, Lord Trees, is insistent that animals killed by shechita can suffer pain for up to two minutes. Shechita was described in the House of Lords as barbaric and absolutely unacceptable.

In 2004 Lord Trees said in the House of Lords, “In a civilised society like ours, we should do all we can to dissuade individuals from pursuing leisure activities resulting in the killing of animals.

Yet there are still 55 million pheasants and partridges raised to be released and shot every year! I don’t think the efforts to dissuade are being very successful. Not to mention the shooting of deer.

This row over shechita and halal has been going on a long time. Lord Sheikh, the first Muslim peer, who died in September, stated clearly in the Lords in 2014 that “Islam forbids the mistreatment of animals.”

The fact is that both religions insist on the humane treatment of animals. Our fourth commandment makes it clear that they are to have the day off on Shabbot. I wonder if today’s farmers in Norfolk apply that rule and, whether the BVA is trying to make animals working on Sunday illegal.

55 million pheasants and partridges are raised every year to be let loose when they’re older and shot.

In the killing of animals for food, we are talking about a number of humane laws which are included in religious instructions. Hunting is strictly forbidden in the Talmud.

Two minutes is also highly questionable. There are plenty of respected academics in the world who question it. The cutting of the carotid artery in shechita removes blood from the heart, causing unconsciousness and death. How long does that take? Some say seconds and, properly done by shochets, the animal shows no sign of pain.

I’m sure Lord Trees still believes that hunting is wrong. The members of the BVA, however, are very dependent in the country on the needs of farmers, and advocating a ban on shooting pheasants is unlikely to be popular.

So the government is highly likely to ignore the whole subject. They’re unpopular enough already.