Religious Animal Slaughter to be Banned in The Netherlands

by ecorazzicontributor June 28, 2011
Categories: Animals.
Photo: Flickr via Jetske19

Some good news for animals in the Netherlands (kind of)!

The country’s parliament is set to pass a bill that would ban the slaughter of livestock without stunning them first, a practice which has long been allowed for orthodox Dutch Jews and Muslims as part of their dietary rules.

Ritual and religious animal slaughter then— the method being cutting the animals throat with a razor-sharp knife— would be no more. A decision which has outraged Jewish and Muslim groups, as they claim the ban goes against their freedom to practice their religion and will make it impossible for them to eat meat.

In the Netherlands, the left wingers see this ritual slaughter as cruelty to animals, whereas the right side of the spectrum finds it to be barbaric. Meaning that the bill will likely pass today.

What do you all think, is it acceptable to limit religious freedoms in this case?

Via The Huffington Post

Rat King

This would be about time! Not so in France – here everyone kills according to his whims – specially for religious massacres and bullfight crime – even honored by the french government as a spritual heritage! Greetings from stoneage!
Tony Rowe

I wish they’d do the same in the UK! We should find the most humane way and have that the only way in which animals are killed for meat. If that way is the halal or kosher way then fine, but there shouldn’t be different rules for different people and animals certainly shouldn’t suffer unnecessarily for people’s religions
http://www.herwinsvegancafe.com herwin

i am from Holland, and i have followed this debate closely.

the comment in the article that the left wingers see it as animal cruelty and the right wingers as barbaric needs some additional information.

Left wing parties draw most of the immigrant votes (and second generation of immigrants) which are mostly muslim. So in order to please this big group, this new bill also makes an exemption, that ritual slaughter still is permitted if the butcher can proof that the animal doesn’t suffer unnecesary or more compared with stunned killing.

Also the notion that left wingers must be automatically be animal friendly is incorrect. The Part For The Animals has made a small study how all parties voted in the past in animal related matters, and it shows that left wing parties are as animal unfriendly as any party, right wing or not.

Last but not least, this debate kinda kick started when it turned out that many ordinary slaughterhouses kill animals without stunning them and sell part of this meat as “halal” (fit for muslim, a big group of people in the Netherlands, unlike the jews who are a tiny minority) while selling the other part unlabeled as regular meat in the supermarket.
Ordinary people were outraged that it turned out that the meat in the supermarket that they buy, that it came from ritually slaughtered animals.

here is the english site of the Party For The Animals
http://www.partyfortheanimals.nl/

funny thing, i once joined a tour (i was invited by them, mind you) organised by this Party to see how they work, what they do, etc. They scolded me because i made a remark about serving only non vegan snacks. LOL
Get Real

I have no problem with religious beliefs, until they conflict with the rights of others – including animals.
Chris

Not good enough. Until this entire world is vegan, then I’ll be happy. It’s a start though.

There are plenty of healthy alternatives to meat, dairy or eggs. Vegans as a whole are much more health than any other group. Anthropology, science, and the gensis from the abrahamic religions prove that a vegan diet is healthier and the only optimal choice for humans.

If these morons don’t want to eat the alternatives, than let them starve to death, the less of these idiot humans the better!
- http://www.herwinsvegancafe.com herwin
  
  you are the first vegan that i know of that that wishes other people to starve to death.
  Or, maybe you no vegan, just a troll being funny, let’s hope.
  
  Anyway, by banning ritual slaughter , people who follow strict religious dietary rules, are not forced to do anything against their religion, or eat anything against their religion and their rules, they simply will have a few food options less, no cowmeat or chicken anymore, and even then these foods can be imported from other countries with no ritual slaughter laws .
  - Chris
    
    herwin,
    
    I’m not trolling, I’m serious. I’ve been a vegan for 2 years. If vegans, the healthiest group of humans can do it, then there is no excuse for any other human being. The meat industry is responbile for more pollution than all cars, trains, planes and boats combined in the world. If you don’t believe me, google it. The meat industry destroys lands, and is also the number one reason humans have cancer. The meat industry is the most evil thing to exist on earth, and anyone involved with these industries needs to wake up and change.
    
    I have nothing against religion until it causes pain to another living creature. These putrid religions are unfortunately causing too much pain to both animals and humans. Pointless wars and murder happens in the name of religion. I know it’s not just religion, but greed, glutony, and corrupt politics altogehter are the problem.
    
    These religious fanatics are evil. Their views corrupt the world, they are only in it for themselves and do not care about the rest of the earth, let alone humans that are not of the same faith. These religious fanatics also kill women, and others in the name of some false god.
    
    Yes, I’d rather they starve to death, then have these parasites to continue destroying our physical and spiritual earth.
  - http://www.herwinsvegancafe.com herwin
    
    People who eat meat from ritual slaughtered animals are just as much “fanatics” as most people who have internet access and can know where there meat is coming from (Google..) yet don’t care and buy cheap factory farm meat in the supermarket, and because they don’t want to be confronted with the truth many of them are Peta haters.
    
    “If I was a leader of a nation, or had influence, I would have these doctors teach the value of the vegan diet.”
    
    Okay, that’s better and will have more results than to wish them dead, wouldn’t you agree ?
    Anyway, i respect your strong spirit.
    
    And, in the end this isn’t a religious matter (eg many Asian religions are promoting vegetarianism and kindness to animals) but this is simply a matter of people who want to produce the cheapest meat possible without regard of life, get filthy rich at the expense of animals. It’s the meat industry that is the enemy, not religious people.
    So if you ever cranck up and borrow the gun of your daddy, visit the meat indfustry and not the religious people, eh. (disclaimer, i am joking)
    
    Two years vegan ? Great. I myself am vegan for umpy years now, stopped counting the years, greatest thing that happened to me.
Rat King

Chris,
you are no troll – I agree with you! No human being has the right to torture an other living being in that cruel way as ritual slaughter does! Every animal is a living soul – in exactly the same way as we are – and just rascal fascists are stealing the right to steal their lifes! Every kind of killing is bad – but kosher and hallal is the worst criminal thing which can happen! I am veg for over 40 years now and I’m still alive and feel very good! There is no need to eat meat! I would say that rather the whole meat industry is starving people to death – namely those people who should have the right to eat the crops and potatoes which should be planted on the land on which the steaks for the first world are kept in order to stuff the belly of the whimsical capitalist first world countries and they don’t give a …..for greenhouse gases and swollen bellies of undernourished children – and it’s exactly in this way that this wonderful world shall go to hell!
- Chris
  
  Right on brother! Well said! I think this starts with education. Unfortunately, many people are either too poor, or just uneducated to know the truth about the meat industry.
  
  If I was a leader of a nation, or had influence, I would have these doctors teach the value of the vegan diet. Diet is the most important thing, we are what we eat.
imforthewhales

Did anyone watch the 4 corners halal slaughter video in Indonesia?

http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/special_eds/20110530/cattle/
Rat King

VICTORY! The new law is accepted by Netherlands! Many thanks to Marianne Thieme, who did a great heroic job and everybody involved!
MARIA SONIA ESTRADA-SOLERO

GRACIAS , HOLANDA . OJALA TODOS LOS PAISES OCCIDENTALES HICIERAN LO MISMO .