A Belgian region has banned halal and kosher slaughter unless the animal is stunned before it is killed, despite critics saying it violates freedom of religion.
The northern region of Flanders is the first in Belgium to implement the ban, followed by the southern region of Wallonia in September.
When proposed, the law was slammed as 'the greatest assault on Jewish religious rights since Nazi occupation' by the European Jewish Congress.
Both the Muslim halal and Jewish kosher rituals require that butchers slaughter the animal by slitting its throat and draining the blood.
Under the new law, animals will have to be stunned electrically before being killed, which most animal rights campaigners say is more humane than the halal and kosher rituals.
Belgium's Muslim and Jewish communities have expressed their opposition to the law, saying halal and kosher requires the animal to be in 'perfect health' when its throat is cut - which would rule out stunning the animal first.
Some say that the ban is less about animal rights, and more about anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. [Comments 1952]
[TOP RATED COMMENT 8944 votes] Well done Belgium! maybe, just maybe the rest of Europe might follow suit but I wont hold my breath!
[2ND 6168] When will our spineless politicians do the same here? Never, that's when.
[3RD 5902] The West should not have been accommodating this in the first place.
[4TH 4754] Belgium has done the right thing, excellent!
[5TH 4354] The whole of Europe should ban it and also stop it being imported. [Daily Mail] Read more
