The idea
Allow others to offer practical help in the slaughter of farm animals for private consumption. This should particularly apply to isolated rural areas without local abatoirs.
Why is it important?
Small abatoirs have closed in previous decades under the mountain of regulation. Many crofters and small – scale farmers now live great distances from their nearest abatoir.
It is perfectly legal to kill and process a farm animal for private consumption, but illegal to get practical help from a more experienced person, or to get that person to perform the kill for a fee.
The way the law is currently applied does nothing to prevent home killing, so is irrelevant to public health. All it does is to make it more awkward and likely to involve suffering for an animal killed by well intentioned but inexperienced people.