Shechita after an Electric Shock
Halacha of a מסוכנת
7. Shechita only permits an animal when the animal’s life is taken through the act of shechita. Thus, the animal must be healthy before shechita so that it is clear the act of shechita took the animal’s life and not something else.
8. מסוכנת. If an animal is unhealthy and close to death, shechita only permits it if it convulses at the end of the shechita and after the shechita to the extent required by halacha, each animal according to its standard given in Shulchan Aruch (סי' י''ז ). The convulsions show that the animal’s reflexes were intact and that it was healthier before shechita than a מסוכנת, i.e., the shechita is indeed what killed it, not its near-death condition. If it did not convulse, that is a sign it died before shechita and it is a neveila (שו''ע יו''ד י''ז ).
9. Scrupulous person. A scrupulous person will not eat an animal that was a מסוכנת even if it convulsed at the end of the shechita. There is no issur to eat, but one who wants to be machmir on himself is commendable (שו''ע שם ס''ג ).
Anesthetizing an Animal before Shechita
10. Anesthetic. An animal given an anesthetic before shechita to prevent it from feeling pain during shechita has the status of a מסוכנת. It may not be eaten unless it convulsed at the end of the shechita, and scrupulous people avoid eating such an animal (שחיטה בהלכה פ''ח אות י''ד ).
11. Assur to make it a מסוכנת l’chatchila. Although an animal that is a מסוכנת may be eaten l’chatchila if it convulsed [if one is not in the category of a scrupulous person], the poskim say that one may not l’chatchila make an animal into a מסוכנת (שו''ת חלקת יעקב ח''א סי' ק''ז ) out of concern that he will forget to check if it convulsed afterward. Also, one should not knowingly do something relying on the fact that he will do an inspection afterward if that inspection will be necessary even b’dieved. There is also a concern one will not be precise enough about the signs of convulsing. There are other reasons as well (שו''ת מנחת יצחק ח''ב סי' כ''ז סק''ט ).
12. Stunning, electric shock. In earlier years, some religion-hating, rash adversaries came up with the idea to have various authorities throughout the world require all animals to be administered an electric shock before shechita meant to render them unconscious in order to minimize the pain animals undergo during shechita. This was supposedly done out of mercy.
13. All the poskim determined that this is unequivocally assur. If this is done, the animal is treated as a neveila or treifa and may not be eaten, as it has the status of a מסוכנת, which must convulse, and we may not make an animal a מסוכנת l’chatchila (11). Even if it convulsed, we do not know that it did not only convulse due to the electric current. There are also many treifa concerns that can be caused by an electric current. If so, there is no way to allow this. It would be better not to eat meat than to permit potential neveilos and treifos (שו''ת שרידי אש ח''א, שו''ת חלקת יעקב שם, שו''ת מנח''י שם ).
14. Switzerland. Many years ago, Switzerland passed a law requiring stunning prior to shechita. All rabbanim forbade shechting under these conditions, so there is no local shechita of cows in Switzerland. They rely on meat imported from other countries. However, most countries in the world with Jewish communities do not have a law requiring stunning prior to shechita, boruch Hashem.
