Animal Welfare Act 2006

The legal framework governing the slaughter for animals for human consumption in the UK operates through a statutory hierarchy with a parent statute and a retained EU regulation at the top, establishing primary duties, and secondary regulations specifying permitted techniques and the rules for gas stunning and killing.

Now, at the very top of the tree is Section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which creates a criminal offence of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

This general protection extends up to the point of slaughter.

This is the primary statutory duty under the law in England.