Halal Practices in Horse Slaughterhouse

Abstract

Horse meat as a popular food in some areas in South Sulawesi had not been accompanied by assurance of halal product. Halal practices became a challenge in horse slaughterhouse since it was still categorized as traditional slaughterhouse. This study highlighted the gap between halal principles in Islam that presented from various sources, both from the Qur'an and Hadith as well as from the explanations of Islamic scholars in term of halal rules. Inspection and measurement of the implementation of halal practices with form adopted and adapted from various documents to obtain minimum standard required for halal practice in slaughterhouse, include SNI 99003:2018 regarding Halal Slaughter on Ruminant Animals, HAS 23103:2012 regarding Guidelines of Halal Assurance System Criteria on Slaughterhouses, the LPPOM-MUI (2012) regarding Guidelines for the Management of Halal Slaughterhouse, and National standard of Indonesia for Slaughterhouse (SNI 01-6159-1999), compared with existed halal practices at horse slaughterhouse. Interviews and observations were conducted to obtain an overview of horse slaughterhouse condition and slaughtering practices. Reviewed of priori literature and reports also conducted regarding halal practices in slaughter. It was found that in the horse slaughterhouse, there were practices that were not appropriate with halal principles and rules. Such as underage slaughterman, sharpening the knife in front of the animals to be slaughtered, rough handling, minimum facilities that increase risk of product contamination, lack of sanitation and personal hygiene, as well as lack of storage, packing, and distribution safety. Therefore evaluation, monitoring, and training were necessary to revise the slaughterhouse halal practices for horse. This paper may contribute to raising awareness about the horse slaughtering established condition, violation towards halal principles that lead to possible risks of haram product at slaughterhouse and improvement that could be done to correct the current condition. This will assist horse meat producers, traders, and policy makers to ensure the halal practice at slaughterhouse.