Warsaw – Poland’s Agriculture Minister Stanislaw Kalemba has announced that ritual slaughter of animals will be reinstated in the country despite an earlier ban instituted against the practice. Kalemba noted that only one amendment needs to be made to the existing legislation to make ritual slaughter permissible again, according to a report by RT.com (http://bit.ly/UNZmna).
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
In an interview with Polish News Channel TVP, Kalemba said, “This is the quickest way to change the law, as a [new] bill by the government would require protracted public consultation. . . It is necessary to respect the rights of religious groups, where ritual slaughter has been practiced for thousands of years.”
Poland’s Constitutional Court had declared the ritual slaughter of animals to be unconstitutional back on November 28 after animal rights activists lobbied for a change in the law, arguing ritual slaughter without first stunning the animal violated a 1997 animal protection act.
Poland sells $259 million worth of exports from its 29 slaughterhouses where ritual slaughter is practiced. An estimated 25,000 Muslims and 6,000 Jews who observe the laws of ritual slaughter currently reside in Poland.
BH!!