To permit domesticated animals, wild animals, and birds for eating, Torah law requires sheḥita. Fish and locusts, by contrast, require no sheḥita; they are not subject to the prohibitions of neveila, tereifa, or blood, and may be eaten regardless of how they died. They are also not subject to the prohibition of ever min ha-ḥai; therefore, one may cut off one of their limbs, rinse it, and eat it while they are still alive. Some authorities maintain that one should nevertheless not eat them in this manner, because doing so is cruel (Da’at Kohen §12). All agree, however, that one may not bite into them while they are alive, because this violates bal teshaktzu, which forbids eating in a repulsive manner (SA and Rema YD 13:1).
Although the mitzva of sheḥita is a divine decree whose full meaning lies beyond our grasp, we can suggest why fish and locusts require no sheḥita and are not included in the prohibition of ever min ha-ḥai. Their brains and nervous systems are far less developed than those of domesticated animals, wild animals, and birds, and it therefore stands to reason that their sense of pain and awareness of life are less developed as well, as explained above in section 3.
When a pregnant animal is properly slaughtered, the mother’s sheḥita also permits the fetus in her womb. This fetus is called a ben peku’a. Whether the fetus is alive or dead makes no difference: provided they undergo valid sheḥita, the fetus may be eaten as well. The Sages said, however, that if a ben peku’a walked on the ground, it must be slaughtered because of mar’it ayin, lest people think that an ordinary domesticated or wild animal is being eaten without sheḥita. Since the ben peku’a does not require sheḥita by law, its meat remains permitted even if it has defects that would render an ordinary animal a tereifa; as long as the mother is kosher, the fetus is kosher as well (SA YD 13:2). If the mother is found to be a tereifa, the fetus is forbidden too. If the fetus is kept alive until it has lived eight days and can stand on its feet, it is treated like any other domesticated or wild animal and can be permitted through its own sheḥita (SA YD 13:3; Shakh 11).[3]
