Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger met with kosher meat importers recently to warn them against cruel slaughtering techniques.  Several animal rights groups have recently protested the “lift and bind” technique used in some South American slaughterhouses that produce kosher meat, saying it causes animals unnecessary pain.

While animal rights groups do not always have pure motives, Rabbi Metzger said, importers should do what they can to ensure that animals in the kosher meat industry are treated well.  Some animal rights organizations are deliberately targeting the kosher meat industry in various countries, he said, and Jewish slaughterers must ensure that their animals are treated well and not subjected to unnecessary pain in order to avoid “anti-Semitic accusations” of cruelty.  If they do not, the kosher slaughter industry could be in danger, he warned.