In Judaism, shechita (anglicized: /ʃəxiːˈtɑː/; Hebrew: שחיטה; [ʃχiˈta]; also transliterated shehitah, shechitah, shehita) is ritual slaughtering of certain mammals and birds for food according to kashrut.

Subjects of study include the preparation of slaughtering tools, ways to interpret which foods follow the laws of shechita, and types of terefot (deformities which make an animal non-kosher).

[8] The procedure is done with the intention of causing a rapid drop in blood pressure in the brain and loss of consciousness, to render the animal insensitive to pain and to exsanguinate in a prompt and precise action.

By biblical law the knife may be made from anything not attached directly or indirectly to the ground and capable of being sharpened and polished to the necessary level of sharpness and smoothness required for shechita.

Today the common practice is for the shochet to run their fingernail up and down both sides of the blade and on the cutting edge to determine if they can feel any imperfections.

[citation needed] After the slaughter, the shochet must check the knife again in the same way to be certain the first inspection was properly done, and to ensure the blade was not damaged during shechita.

[citation needed] In previous centuries, the chalaf was made of forged steel, which was not reflective and was difficult to make both smooth and sharp.

[citation needed] It differs from the previously used knife design because it is made of molten steel and polished to a mirror gloss in which scratches could be seen as well as felt.

[citation needed] As of present time, the "Hassidic hallef" is universally accepted and is the only permitted blade allowed in religious communities.

The animal's blood may not be collected in a bowl, a pit, or a body of water, as these resemble ancient forms of idol worship.

Ashkenazic Jews rule that if the adhesion can be removed (there are various methods of removing the adhesion, and not all of them are acceptable even according to the Ashkenazic custom) and the lungs are still airtight (a process that is tested by filling the lungs with air and then submerging them in water and looking for escaping air), then the animal is still kosher but not glatt.

[36] Porging[note 1] refers to the halakhic requirement to remove the carcass's veins, chelev (caul fat and suet)[39] and sinews.

[42] The removal of the chelev and the gid hanasheh, called nikkur, is considered complicated and tedious, and hence labor-intensive, and even more specialized training is necessary to perform the act properly.

"[47] When shechita came under attack in the 19th century, Jewish communities resorted to expert scientific opinions which were published in pamphlets called Gutachten.

[citation needed] The practices of handling, restraining, and unstunned slaughter have been criticized by, among others, animal welfare organizations such as Compassion in World Farming.

[53][54][55][56][57] The Federation of Veterinarians of Europe has issued a position paper on slaughter without prior stunning, calling it "unacceptable.

A 1978 study at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover indicates that shechita gave results which proved "pain and suffering to the extent as has since long been generally associated in public with this kind of slaughter cannot be registered" and that "[a complete loss of consciousness] occurred generally within considerably less time than during the slaughter method after captive bolt stunning.

"[59] However, the lead of the study William Schulze warned in his report that the results may have been due to the captive bolt device they used being defective.

[59] Nick Cohen, writing for the New Statesman, discusses research papers collected by Compassion in World Farming which indicate that the animal suffers pain during the process.

[60] In 2009, Craig Johnson and colleagues showed that calves that have not been stunned feel pain from the cut in their necks,[61] and they may take at least 10–30 seconds to lose consciousness.

[62] Temple Grandin says that the experiment needs to be repeated using a qualified shochet and knives of the correct size sharpened in the proper way.

[63] Jewish and Muslim commentators cite studies that show shechita is humane and that criticism is at least partially motivated by antisemitism.

The studies concluded that a shechita cut "probably results in minimal discomfort" because the cattle stand still and do not resist a comfortable head restraint device.

Each terrified animal was forced with an electric prod to run into a small stall which had a slick floor on a forty-five-degree angle.

This caused the animal to slip and fall so that workers could attach the chain to its rear leg [in order to raise it into the air].

Temple Grandin has worked closely with Jewish slaughterers to design handling systems for cattle, and has said: "When the cut is done correctly, the animal appears not to feel it.

From an animal-welfare standpoint, the major concern during ritual slaughter are the stressful and cruel methods of restraint (holding) that are used in some plants.

The prohibition of stunning and the treatment of the slaughtered animal expressed in shechita law limit the extent to which Jewish slaughterhouses can industrialize their procedures.

The most industrialized attempt at a kosher slaughterhouse, Agriprocessors of Postville, Iowa, became the center of controversy in 2004, after People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released a gruesome undercover video of cattle struggling to their feet with their tracheas and esophagi ripped out after shechita.