Wilhelm Schulze

Wilhelm Schulze (10 December 1920, Leipzig – 30 December 2002) was a German professor of veterinary medicine, director of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover (1966–68, 1978–80 and 1980-81^[1]) and a specialist for pigs.

Schulze studied veterinary medicine at Leipzig University and at Hanover University and became a professor (1950–56) and dean (1952–55) in Leipzig. In 1957 he was appointed a professor in Hanover and established a reputable clinic specializing on pigs.^[1] In 1968 he was a founder of the "International Pig Veterinary Society" (IPVS).^[2] His dedication to this species earned him the respectful title "Pigs-Schulze" ("Schweine-Schulze") by students, colleagues and vets.^[1] Schulze was awarded honorary degrees of the Free University of Berlin, the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, the University of Warsaw and Leipzig University. On August 24, 2006, the university decided to posthumously name a prize after him.^[3]

Between 1974 and 1978 Schulze and his colleagues carried out a study at the School of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover University in Germany. The study: ‘Attempts to Objectify Pain and Consciousness in Conventional (captive bolt pistol stunning) and Ritual (knife) Methods of Slaughtering Sheep and Calves’^[4] is reported on Islamic websites^[5][6] to have concluded that "the Islamic way of slaughtering is the most humane method of slaughter and that captive bolt stunning, practiced in the West, causes severe pain to the animal".

Indeed, according to the study "these experiments on sheep and calves carried out within a clinic show that during a ritual slaughter, carried out according to the state of the art using hydraulically operated tilting equipment and a ritual cut, pain and suffering to the extent as has since long been generally associated in public with this kind of slaughter cannot be registered." However, the study notes that the "objective results presented for the captive bolt application in sheep (..) rather (..) indicates that the captive bolt device used is suspect" and that these initial "scientific findings and the results presented are only a very first contribution" and that they "need to be followed as a high priority by further investigations in the continuation of the scientific clarification of the issues of loss of pain and consciousness during slaughter of this kind with and without stunning using the same experimental approach with a representative number of grown cows of various breeds."

However, the report focuses on a technique seldomly used on sheep (the captive bolt). Moreover, before dying in 2002, Schulze warned in his report that the stunning technique may not have functioned properly during the study he carried out.^[7]

Notes

1. Biography of Prof. Schulze at TiHo Hanover, 2000
2. IPVS-Kongress 2004. Eine beeindruckende Veranstaltung GROSSTIERPRAXIS 07/2004 page 24
3. Wilhelm Schulze Preis at TiHo Hanover, 2006
4. Schulze W, Schultze-Petzold H, Hazem AS, Gross R. Experiments for the objectification of pain and consciousness during conventional (captive bolt stunning) and religiously mandated (“ritual cutting”) slaughter procedures for sheep and calves. Deutsche Tierärztliche Wochenschrift 1978 Feb 5;85(2):62-6. (English translation by Sahib Mustaqim Bleher) (German)
5. The Halal Slaughter Controversy: Do Animal Rights activists protect the sheep or the Butcher? by Sahib Mustaqim Bleher www.mustaqim.co.uk
6. Is Islamic Slaughtering Cruel to Animals? By Dr. Aisha El-Awady, IslamOnline.net 2 February 2003
7. Animals feel pain of religious slaughter, Andy Coghlan, NEW SCIENTIST, October 2009