Killing or slaughter of an animal must be carried out as quickly as possible and in the least painful manner. An animal may only be killed by a person with a sufficient knowledge of the killing method and technique suitable for the animal species in question, as well as with sufficient skills to perform the procedure. The permitted stunning and killing methods are presented in the Council regulation on the protection of animals at the time of killing (EC) No. 1099/2009 and in the Finnish Animal Welfare Act 693/2023 (in Finnish and Swedish language only).
Frequently asked questions
Is religious slaughter permitted in Finland?
Apart from some exceptions for poultry, slaughter without stunning is completely banned in Finland. Such method of religious slaughter, where bleeding is started simultaneously with stunning, is at present permitted in Finland, but only in slaughterhouses in the presence of the inspection veterinarian. However, in practice, halal meat is produced in Finnish slaughterhouses only from animals which have been stunned before bleeding.
Is it allowed to produce so called balut eggs in Finland?
Selling balut eggs as food is not allowed. Production of balut eggs for one's own consumption is regulated by Animal Welfare Act. Even though there are no precise provisions on the methods suitable for killing fetuses of unhatched eggs, well-being of the fetuses must be taken into account during the last third of incubation of unhatched eggs. Finnish Food Authority states that boiling cannot be considered as an acceptable method of killing fetuses of unhatched eggs during the last third of incubation.