Ban on slaughtering animals without stunning stays in place

Ben Weyts, the Flemish minister for animal welfare, has refused to lift a ban on slaughtering animals without first stunning them. The measure was being sought by Muslim organisations to allow them to celebrate the coming Feast of the Sacrifice, Eid al-Adha, by slaughtering animals at temporary facilities according to halal rules.

The feast takes place this year at the end of September and the huge demand means temporary facilities have been set up. An estimated 40,000 sheep are expected to be slaughtered in Flanders for the occasion. The rules for ritual slaughter involve slitting the animal’s throat while it is conscious, a procedure which in Flanders is only allowed in licensed slaughterhouses, not in the temporary spots where most of the sheep will be killed.

Some 48 Muslim organisations approached Weyts asking for the rules to be suspended for the occasion. In some parts of the region, such as Limburg, they argued, there are no slaughterhouses licensed for halal slaughter. In all of Flanders the capacity is only 25% of demand. Weyts pointed to European rules, which impose the same conditions, and argued that some EU countries ban slaughter without stunning outright.

The Muslim organisations argued that the feast could be regarded as a cultural tradition and therefore be exempt from the rules. Weyts’ office made it clear the idea of ritual slaughter as a Flemish cultural tradition was “stretching an argument to breaking point”.

“Complaining about a minister because he wants to enforce European rules in Flanders is too absurd for words,” said Ann De Greef, director of animal rights organisation Gaia.

The process of electronarcosis – knocking an animal out by passing an electric current – is, according to Gaia, perfectly in line with both halal slaughter and EU rules. If the organisations would accept that process, De Greef said, “the whole problem would disappear at a stroke, and there would be no problem of a shortage of capacity at licensed slaughterhouses”.

Photo: A temporary slaughterhouse in Brussels during the Feast of the Sacrifice
© Sander de Wilde/Corbis