Shechita is the only method of animal slaughter permitted by Jewish law to enable Jews to eat meat and poultry. It is not a dispensable custom or an outdated rite or ceremony, but a divinely ordained Jewish teaching given to Moses on Mount Sinai. It remains applicable in the present day. Without shechita Jews would be forbidden to eat meat and it will therefore always continue to be practiced by Jews. It is practical and humane and an integral part of Jewish law.

Jewish laws governing shechita and the animal welfare considerations are to be found in the Talmud (Oral Law of Judaism) Tractate Chullin, Mishneh Torah of Maimonides, the Shulchan Oruch: Yoreh Deah (Codes of Jewish Law) by Rabbi Joseph Karo, of which 28 sections sub-divided into 156 regulations, in addition to commentaries, deal with shechita.