AMSTERDAM: The Dutch animal welfare party submitted draft legislation proposing to ban all slaughter of animals without stunning.The Party for the Animals’ new bill follows the passing in 2010 of a different bill that banned the custom, which is practiced by Jews and Muslims. The anti-Islam Party for Freedom, a right-wing populist movement, and several other parties joined the 2010 legislation submitted by the left-leaning animal party.
The Organization of Jewish Communities in the Netherlands, or NIK, criticized the bill in a statement Tuesday, calling it “unacceptable and unnecessary” in light of agreements and compromises reached.
Across Europe, the Muslim and Jewish customs of ritual slaughter of animals and the circumcision of boys have come under attack in recent years by nationalists who regard them as foreign, and by liberals who view them as cruel.
