'''Skäktning''' är en religiös och kulturell slaktmetod som används av judar och muslimer. Metoden har även använts av kristna <ref> The Politics of Beef: Animal Advocacy and the Kosher Butchering Debates in Germany
Jewish Social Studies - Volume 10, Number 1, Fall 2003 (New Series), pp. 117-150 </ref>.

Skäktning innebär att djuret avlivas genom att djurets luftstrupe och matstrupe skärs av med en kniv som är rakbladsvass. Samtidigt skärs andra strukturer i halsen av, bland annat karotidartärerna och  vagusnerven. 

Huruvida djuret känner smärta vid skäktning är omstritt. De flesta forskare är överens om att uppskärning av halsen utan tidigare bedövning inte medför en omedelbar medvetslöshet. I vissa fall kan nötboskap behålla medvetandet upp till en minut.<ref>http://www.grandin.com/ritual/kosher.box.variables.time.lose.sensibility.html]Time required for cattle to lose sensibility</ref>

Handlingen är av stor betydelse för praktiserande judar och muslimer dels emedan dessa endast får äta kött som har slaktats korrekt enligt respektive religions lagar, dels för att djuret inte får utsättas för ett antal av religionen förbjudna åtgärder som till exempel att köttet rivs eller djurets lidande vid slakt ökas.

Enligt den judiska principen ''tza'ar ba'alei hayim'', att känna medlidande för djurens själsliga plågor, får inte slaktmetoden varieras så att ökad smärta eller plågor uppstår.

En av grundprinciperna i skäktning <ref>Shulhan Arukh: Yore Dei'a</ref> är omedelbarhet: att inget uppehåll eller dröjsmål eller paus får inträffar. Att använda bultpistol bryter mot denna princip varför enligt många poskim (judiska lagtolkare) är bultpistol i samband med shehitah förbjudet. <ref>[http://www.shechitauk.org/faqs.php#a1</ref>]Även muslimska tolkare av sharialagen gör liknande utlåtanden.

I skandinaviska länderna, har det sedan 1850 pågått debatter beträffande skäktning. Orsakerna till diskussionerna har förutom åsikter om förbättrat djurskydd varit antisemitiska inslag som uppstod ca 1890 i samband med judarnas emancipation<ref>The real aim of the initiators of the referendum was to deprive the Swiss Jews the newly-gained emancipation. ...The referendum for a ban on ritual slaughter was accepted first and foremost because of widespread anti-Semitic feelings among the population. The question of cruelty to animals played only a subordinate role. sid. 270 engelsk summering. ''Das Schächtverbot in der Schweiz'' Pascal Krauthammer Zurcher Studien zur Rechtsgeschichte Schulthess Zurich 2000.</ref>.

==Etymologi==
Ordet skäktning kommer från tyskans ''schächten'', som i sin tur har sitt ursprung i yiddish ''shekht''. ''Shekht'' är ett lånord i yiddish från hebreiskans ''shehittah'' (שחיטה), som betyder slakt. En ''shohet'' är en judisk slaktare. Ordet kom in i tyska språket i samband med schächten debatterna, och likaså in i svenskan med skäktningsdebatterna där. Engelskan använder den hebreiska ordet ''shehitah'' direkt eller ''ritual slaughter'' som täcker både shehitah och muslimsk ''dhabhihah'' (uttalas ''zzabhihah'' eller ''zzabh'').

==Utförande==

Judisk shehitah (שחיטה) och muslimsk Dhabīḥah (ذَبِيْحَة) har olika regelverk och vissa skillnader finns. Med shehitah måste shoheten, slaktaren, få specialutbildning och måste kunna regelverk och källorna för dessa förutom att vara from och observant angående alla judiska religiösa levnadsregler. Han examineras och får en speciell licens. Licensen utfärdas av en rabbin och är giltig endast under denna rabbins jurisdiktion. Slaktkniven måste vara minst dubbel så lång som djurets hals är bred. Olika knivar används därför för fåglar och för boskap. Kniven är rakbladsvass och rak. 

''Dhabihah'' eller ''dzabh'' kan uföras av vanliga muslimer vid behov och böjda knivar används ibland. Olika lagtolkningar finns angående slakt, men de mest strikta är mer likt judisk lag. 

Snittet läggs så djupt att djuret (get, får eller fågel) på grund av blodtrycksfallet så gott som omedelbart förlorar medvetandet. Vid slakt av nötkreatur är detta emellertid inte fallet. Hos nötkreatur tillförs alla delarna av hjärnan syrerikt blod både från karotiderna och vertebralartärerna. Eftersom vertebralartärerna ej skärs av vid snittning därför att de löper inne i kotkanalen, tillförs hjärnan syrerikt blod tills avblodningen sänkt blodtrycket tillräckligt för att tillförseln ej längre skall fungera. Under en stor del av avblodningen är djuret således vid medvetande, upp till en minut eller mer.  <ref name="grandin2"> Grandin 1996 </ref>.

Forskaren Tempel Grandin har uttalat sig på detta vis om hur medvetslöshet inträder: 
"''Jag har också iakttagit att vissa shohtim var bättre än andra i sin förmåga att orsaka medvetslöshet inom en mycket kort tid. Alla snitt utfördes korrekt, från en religiös synpunkt, men vissa shohtim var mer biologiskt effektiva. Ett snabbare utfört snitt var mer effektivt än ett snitt som gjorts saktare. Hos de bästa shohtim, ger djuret inte ifrån sig ett ljud och ryckar inte till, och faller medvetslös inom åtta till tio sekunder.''"<ref>[http://jewishveg.blogspot.com/2004/12/special-jvna-newsletter-postville.html#a1]Article by World Renowned Shechita Expert Temple Grandin. Artikel av världsrenommerad skäktningsexpert Temple Grandin(översatt från engelska).</ref>

==Juridisk status==
Av djurskyddsskäl är slakt utan bedövning i Europa förbjuden i Schweiz, Sverige, Norge, Island, Lettland och Lichtenstein. Paragraf 14 djurskyddslagen<ref></ref> i Sverige lyder: "Husdjur skall vid slakten vara bedövat när blodet tappas av.  Andra åtgärder vid slakten får inte vidtas innan djuret är dött."  Förbudet infördes i Schweiz 1893, i Norge 1929 i Tyskland 1933 och i Sverige 1937 efter skäktningsdebatterna som hade förts redan från andra hälften av 1800-talet i Tyskland, Schweiz och Skandinavien.

Beträffande krav på bedövning vid slakt i europeiska länder har i dag några, utöver ovanstående nämnda länder, krav på bedövning ''efter'' snittläggning, men de flesta av de europeiska länderna har inte några krav på bedövning.
<ref>Djurskyddsmyndighetens rapport Dnr 2006-1844, 2007-04-19, Tabell 1 [http://www.sjv.se/download/18.1d8730ed11439d875d180002988/070423_rapport_religios_slakt.pdf]</ref>.

==Historia==
=== Skäktningsdebatter i Europa === 
Skäktningsdebatterna kom till som ett resultat av att när människorna flyttade till städerna, byggdes stora slakthus som då var oreglerade. Bedövning infördes för att skydda slakthuspersonal och för att upprätta hygieniska förhållande för arbetarna och för köttet.
thumb|right|Medeltida slakt av tamsvin. 
Européer har sedan länge använt bedövning med slägghammare innan djuret sticks med kniv och metoden var fortfarande i bruk vid 1800-talets slut. Man använde också slaktyxor. Så småningom utvecklades olika typer av slaktmasker och senare infördes även bultpistolen. Med de nya förbättrade bedövningsmetoderna började mer djurvänliga strömningar göra sig gällande för att komma till rätta med den då rådande djurmisshandeln vid slakterierna. Krav på bättre djurskydd, bland annat bedövning av djuren vid slakt, framfördes.

Antisemitiska föreningar som hade kommit till stånd tog tag i skäktningsfrågan, och tillsammans med veterinärer och djurskyddsföreningar drev man en kampanj för att förbjuda skäktning genom lagstiftning.

thumb|200px|Shechita
'''Shechita''' ('''shechitah''', '''shehitah''', '''shehita''', '''shehittah''') (Hebrew:) is the Jewish dietary laws.<ref> Deut. 12:21, Deut. 14:21, Num. 11:22</ref> The act is performed by drawing a very sharp knife across the animal's throat and allowing the blood to drain out. a similar procedure.

The animal must be killed with respect and compassion by a "shochet" (ritual slaughterer), a pious Jew who has in mind the life of the animal as he draws the knife across its neck. The animal can be in a number of positions; when the animal is lying on its back, this is referred to as ''shechita munachat''.
  
If the hindquarters (or sirloin) of kosher mammals are to be eaten by Jews, they must be 'porged' - stripped of veins, fats<ref>Mishneh Torah ''Kedushah'', ''Forbidden Foods'' 8:1</ref> and sinews<ref>Mishneh Torah ''Kedushah'', ''Forbidden Foods'' 6:1</ref> in accordance with a strict procedure. <ref>{{cite encyclopedia
  | title =PORGING 
  | encyclopedia =Jewish Encyclopedia
  | volume =
  | pages = 
  | publisher = 
  | location = New York
  | date=  1901-1906
  | id = LCCN:16014703
  | accessdate =  
  | last = Eisenstein
  | first = Judah David 
  | url =http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=453&letter=P
  | accessdate=2006-07-23
}}</ref>  Because of the expense of porging and the skill required to properly separate out the forbidden parts, a large portion of the meat of kosher mammals slaughtered through shechita in the United States winds up on the non-kosher market.

==Preparation==

The animal must be kosher (i.e. animals that chew their cud and have cloven hooves). Before slaughtering, the animal must be healthy, so the animal is inspected as carefully as possible without being invasive. The shochet may feel the area around the lungs, for scabbing or lesions, which would render the animal not kosher. Stunning the animal before slaughter is forbidden.

==Process==
Though referenced in the Torah, the vast majority of the basic practices of shechita are not described in great detail there. Instead, they are found in Judaism's traditional Oral Torah, and have been codified in halakha in various sources, most notably the Shulchan Aruch. In order to fulfill the basic law of shechita, the majority of the esophagus and trachea of a land animal, or the majority of either of them in the case of birds, must be sliced through with a back and forth sawing motion without violating one of the five major prohibited techniques, or various more detailed rules. The five major forbidden techniques include: Pressing, Pausing, Tearing, Piercing, or Covering.  A shochet must have studied these laws and demonstrate a thorough understanding of them, as well as have been carefully trained, before he is allowed to shekht meat unaided.

'''Pressing''' is accomplished when the shochet pushes the knife into the animal's throat, chops rather than slices, or positions the animal improperly so that either its head presses down on the blade as it expires or the shochet must push the knife into the throat against the force of gravity. There are those who feel that it is forbidden to have the animal in an upright position during shechita due to the prohibition of pressing. They feel that the animal must be on its back, laying on its side, suspended upside down by a rope or chain, or - as is done in most commercial slaughter houses - placed in a barrel like pen that restrains the animal's limbs while it is turned on its back for slaughter. However, an expert shochet can slaughter the animal while it is upright without pressing the knife. This method is employed in most smaller operations in America.

'''Pausing''' is performed by the shochet if he stops the slaughtering process after either the trachea or esophagus has been cut but before they have been cut the majority of the way through. Pausing can happen accidentally if muscle contractions in the animal's neck pull one of these organs out of contact with the blade. The latter case is especially common in turkeys.

'''Piercing''' is the result of stabbing the animal in the throat, slicing the trachea or esophagus with a serrated knife, slaughtering with a rusty knife or one that has an imperfection that rises above the blade's surface, burning the animal's throat, or slaughtering with a knife that is so hot it would cause a person to not touch it. Burning is always considered piercing in shechita, regardless of the motion of the knife.

'''Tearing''' is caused by using a knife with an imperfection on the blade, such as a scratch or nick, that causes a section of blade to be lower than the surface of the blade.

'''Covering''' is accomplished by either cutting into the animal's throat so deeply that the entire width of the knife disappears in the wound, using a knife that is too short so that the end disappears in the wound, or by having a foreign object fall over the knife so the shochet loses sight of the incision.

===Minor rules===

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. If the shochet accidentally slaughters with a knife dedicated to idol worship, he must remove an amount of meat equivalent to the value of the knife and destroy it. If he slaughtered with such a knife on purpose, the animal is forbidden as not kosher. It is forbidden to slaughter an animal in front of others, or to slaughter an animal and its young on the same day, even separately. This is forbidden no matter how far away the animals are from each other. An animal's "young" is defined as either its own offspring, or another animal that follows it around, even if of another species.

==The knife==

The knife used for shechita is called a hallaf by Ashkenazim or a sacin by Sephardim. 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. The Minhag now is to use a metal knife. Anything but a metal knife today would render the animal unfit to eat except in certain narrow circumstances.

The knife must be minimally 1.5 or 2 times as long as the animal's neck is wide, depending on the species of animal and the number of strokes needed to slaughter the animal, but not so long that the weight of the knife exceeds the weight of the animal's head. If the knife is too large, it is assumed to cause Pressing. The knife must not have a point. It is feared a point may slip into the wound during slaughter and cause piercing. The blade may also not be serrated, as serrations cause tearing.

The blade may not have imperfections in it. All blades are assumed by Jewish law to be imperfect, so the knife must be checked before each session. The shochet must run his fingernail up and down both sides of the blade and on the cutting edge to determine if he can feel any imperfections. He then uses a number of increasingly fine abrasive stones to sharpen and polish the blade until it is perfectly sharp and smooth. 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. If the blade is damaged, the meat may not be eaten by Jews. If the blade falls or is lost before the second check is done, the first inspection is relied on and the meat is permitted.

In previous centuries the hallaf was made of forged steel, which was not reflective and was difficult to make both smooth and sharp. The Chasidische Hallaf. The Chasidische Hallaf differs from the previously used knife in that it was made from molten steel and polished to a mirror gloss in which scratches could be seen as well as felt. The new knife was controversial and was one of four reasons listed in the Brody Cherem for the excommunication of the Chassidim.

Today the Chasidische Hallaf is the only commercially available knife for shechita and is universally accepted.

==Carcass preparation==
===Bedikah===
An animal must be checked again after it has been shekhted to see if there were
any internal injuries that would render have the animal unhealthy before the slaughter, but were simply not visible because they were internal.  The inspector must check certain organs, such as the lungs, for any scarring which would render the animal treif (not-kosher)

===Glatt===
In the case of a scab or lesion on a cow’s lungs specifically, there is debate between Ashkenazic customs and Sephardic customs. Ashkenazic Jews hold that if the patch can be removed 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, while Sephardic Jews hold that if there is any sort of scabbing or lesion on the lungs, then the animal is not kosher. “Glatt” meat would literally mean that the animal has passed the stringent Sephardic requirements, although today the word is rarely used in that context.
====Removal====
After the animal has been thoroughly inspected, there are still steps that have to be taken before the animal can be sold as kosher. The Torah prohibits the eating of certain fats and organs, such as the kidneys and intestines, so they must be removed from the animal.  These fats are typically known as “Chelev”. Chelev prohibition only applies to domesticated animals, such as cows and sheep. For wild animals, such as deer, this prohibition is not applicable. There is also a biblical prohibition against eating the sciatic nerve (Gid Hanasheh) so that too, must be removed.
The removal of the Chelev and the Gid Hanasheh is considered complicated and tedious, and even more specialized training is necessary to perform the act properly. While the small amounts of Chelev in the front half of the animal are relatively easy to remove, the back half of the animal is far more complicated, and it is where the sciatic nerve is located. In countries such as America, where there exist a large non-kosher meat market, the hindquarters of the animal (where many of these forbidden meats are located) is sold to non-Jews so as to simplify the process. On the other hand, in countries like Israel, specially trained men are hired to prepare the hindquarters for sale as kosher.

===Blood===
The blood must also be removed from the meat, as there is a biblical prohibition against the eating of blood as well. All large arteries and veins are removed, as well as any bruised meat or coagulated blood. Then the meat has to be purged of all remaining blood (kashering). The process is generally done by letting the meat soak for around 30 minutes, covering it with salt and then allowing it to drain. In Sephardi traditions, one generally leaves the salt on for a full hour and then rinses the meat thoroughly. The meat is then considered kashered. However, if the meat has been left for more than three days after being slaughtered without being kashered, or if the meat was frozen before being kashered, then the blood is considered to have “set” in the meat, and it is no longer salvageable to eat except when prepared through broiling with appropriate drainage.

==Animal welfare controversies==

The prohibition of stunning and the humane attitude towards the slaughtered animal expressed in shechita law limits 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 gruesome undercover video of cattle struggling to their feet with their tracheas and esophagi ripped out after shechita.  Some of the cattle actually got up and stood for a minute or so after being dumped from the rotating pen. [http://www.goveg.com/feat/agriprocessors]<ref>Aaron Gross: [http://www.jewishveg.com/media11.html When Kosher Isn't Kosher]. Tikkun Magazine, March/April 2005, Vol. 20, No. 2.</ref> 