Dutch to ban Halal & Kosher slaughter
11 April 2011
The political situation in the Netherlands is going to make a historical change. After, an announcement made lately to launch Animal Rights Police in the Netherlands. Now, a bill is moving through parliament to ban Halal and Kosher religious slaughter of animals on the grounds that it is a cruel and inhumane practice. The bill currently enjoys support from a majority of Members of Parliament and is expected to be put up for debate sometime this week.
The bills sponsor, the pro-animal party (PvdD: Party for the Animals) is being joined by the extreme right wing anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV) led by Geert Wilders. The Dutch right wing is said to support the bill out of its hostility toward the Dutch Muslim population.
Halal is Islamic; Kosher is Jewish. Both religions demand that animal slaughter is carried out with a single cut to the throat while the animal is conscious. When the animal is slaughtered under ancient Jewish and Muslim dietary laws, it is left to bleed out while conscious, afraid and in pain.
The issue is one of competing interests: freedom of religion versus animal rights. Animal rights activists claim the ritual slaughter is a cruel and barbaric practice that is both unnecessary and unwarranted. Though, the Muslim and Jewish fundamentalists say the ban would be a violation of their religious freedom.
After passing this bill the Netherlands will join New Zealand, Scandinavian countries and Switzerland which have had similar bans in place for decades.
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