NETHERLANDS: Netherlands to Ban Ritual Slaughter without Stunning

Dutch politicians have passed a bill banning the slaughter of livestock without stunning it first.

The law will not completely outlaw Halal slaughter, as an alleged 80 per cent of Halal killings are already made with pre-stunning, but it will outlaw kosher slaughter, which never involves stunning.

The lower house of the Dutch parliament voted for the ban by a majority of 116 to 30, but it must be passed by the upper house before becoming law, which is unlikely to happen before the summer recess.

Also, because of a last-minute amendment introduced by the governing Liberals, together with three opposition parties, the ban might still allow exceptions on religious grounds. It would be conditional on proof that kosher and Halal slaughter does not lead to more suffering than conventional slaughter.

The bill was introduced by Marianne Thieme, leader of the Animal Rights Party, and is supported by the anti-Islamification Freedom Party (PVV). A solid majority of Dutch voters say they support the ban.

Mrs Thieme said it was a ‘great honour’ to have her bill passed.

‘This way of killing causes unnecessary pain to animals. Religious freedom cannot be unlimited. For us, religious freedom stops where human or animal suffering begins,’ she explained.

Esther Ouwehand, another MP for the animal rights party, said: ‘By getting this modification in the law, we hope to inspire other countries.’

But the bill has been met with strong opposition from Muslim and Jewish groups, who say it does not respect their freedom of religion.

Binyomin Jacobs, the Dutch Chief Rabbi, has compared the ban to the anti-Semitic laws enacted by a collaborationist government during the Second World War Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.

Imam Mahmut of the El Tawheed mosque in Amsterdam said: ‘There was no reason for passing this law. This is a political decision. Their way of killing the animal is not good either. The killing takes longer and the animal suffers more.’

Mahmut said Muslims, who make up one million of the Netherlands’ 16 million population, will now turn to imported meat.

‘It shouldn’t be the problem. The meat can be imported to the Netherlands from neighbouring countries,’ he said.

Compulsory stunning of some animals before slaughter is already imposed in Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Sweden.

The British National Party would enact a ban on all forms of ritual slaughter in Britain – whether the animal is pre-stunned or not. Such practices are inhumane and barbaric and have no place in a civilised country.

We will end the supply, use and distribution of all products derived from religious slaughter by all publicly funded organisations within Britain. This will include educational establishments where Halal products are currently provided without the knowledge or consent of parents and children.