Despite the European Parliament vote on Wednesday to allow Jewish religious animal slaughter (shechita), a critical vote next month will determine if European Union countries can effectively get around the approval by demanding pre-stunning, which violates Jewish dietary laws as part of an amendment on new animal welfare regulations to prevent unnecessary suffering. According to the proposal approved Wednesday, religious ritual was granted full exemption from a requirement that animals must be slaughtered after stunning or in a way the kills them instantly.
The vote on pre-stunning worries European Jews. "The [proposed] regulation must not be drafted to allow governments in Europe to threaten our culture and our freedom to observe our religion," said Philip Carmel of the Conference of European Rabbis. Serge Cwajgenbaum, Secretary General of the European Jewish Congress, added that “the Jewish community takes seriously the issues of human rights and the humane treatment of animals.”
Shechita is currently forbidden in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. Switzerland allows the method for poultry but not for other animals.
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