A 2012 Food Standards Agency report, estimated that 97 per cent of cattle, 96% of poultry and 90 per cent of sheep slaughtered under halal procedures in British abattoirs were stunned before being killed.

All the halal chicken served in Pizza Express, Nando’s, KFC and Subway as well as sold in all the main British supermarkets differs only from other chickens killed in British slaughterhouses in one respect: a blessing is said as the creature dies.

Raising and slaughtering animals (whether halal or non-halal), even under the so-called highest welfare standards, still causes animals suffering and death.

Those who are vegetarian may not realise that cows and egg laying hens live longer than meat animals. Furthermore, they are generally treated worse. And they all eventually end up at the same slaughterhouse that meat animals are sent to.

Every single animal (whether halal or non-halal) meets an horrendous death in the slaughterhouse. It is hell and a million times worse than anyone can imagine.

Switching to a vegan diet is the only way to eliminate animal exploitation.

Emily Walsh Sackville Road, Hove