Dutch animal party begins 2nd attempt to ban slaughter without stunning

AMSTERDAM (JTA) — Despite opposition by the Dutch constitutional court, the local animal party has filed its second bill seeking a ban on the slaughter of animals without stunning.

The Party for the Animals filed the bill Monday in the Tweede Kamer, the Dutch lower house, the RTL broadcaster reported. It was after the Council of State, an advisory body on legislation and the Netherlands’ highest general administrative court, had issued an unusual warning about the bill, saying it would unreasonably compromise religious freedoms.

In 2012, the Dutch Senate scrapped a ban, which the party had initiated, on the practice. Submitted by the Party for Freedom, the bill received support from various political parties, including the anti-Islam Party for Freedom. But the Senate voted down the bill, citing reasons similar to those cited by the Council of State.

Jewish religious laws require animals be conscious when they are slaughtered for their meat to be kosher. Islam has similar rules for the production of halal meat.

The Organization of Jewish Communities in the Netherlands, or NIK, in a statement Thursday said it “strongly rejects” the new bill, which NIK Chairman Ruben Vis said ignores both the Council of State’s position and understandings reached between the government and the Jewish and Muslim communities in 2017.

The agreement includes a 40-second limit on the amount of time an animal is allowed to go without stunning after its neck is cut.