European rabbis: Shechitah could come under legislative attack in EU
A prominent European rabbinical group has warned that
kosher slaughter could come under further attack this year in European Union
countries.
“Many European Jewish communities are not aware that
shechitah could be put in danger,” Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the
Conference of European Rabbis, wrote Tuesday in an email sent to multiple
recipients.
The danger, he wrote, stems from governments’ reliance
“on deeply flawed, agenda-led research when making policy.”
Goldschmidt
pointed out that EU member countries are required to replace domestic
laws on religious slaughter by January 2013 with European Regulation 1099, a
set of new regulations meant to ensure animals do not experience
"unnecessary suffering" at or near the time of the slaughter.
While the regulations allow exception for religious
slaughter, they also allow "a certain level of subsidiarity," or
discretion, to each member state.
Goldschmidt noted the planned change in Estonia’s laws on
ritual slaughter.
Last week an Estonian government official told JTA that
Estonia would change its current laws on religious slaughter because the
rituals “do not take new scientific knowledge into account.” There was no plan
to ban the practice, she said.
The official added the change would be based on the
EU-funded DialRel report of 2010, which states that kosher slaughter, or
shechitah, causes higher risk, pain and suffering in animals than methods that
involve stunning. Jewish religious law requires animals to be conscious when
their necks are cut.
“European governments are increasingly making reference
to the DialRel project as part of their implementation of European Regulation
1099,” Goldschmidt said. “Faith communities rejected the methodology and
findings of DialRel in 2010 when it failed to properly engage with them.”
The report “was mentioned in the context” of the Dutch
Parliament’s 2011 vote to ban shechitah, Goldschmidt noted. The Dutch Senate scrapped
the measure in June.
Shechitah is banned in Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and
Iceland. Along with Estonia, countries that impose post-cut stunning include
Finland, Denmark and Austria.
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