K A S H R U T . C O M_©

The following news from www.vosizneias.com, meattradenewsdaily.co.uk on May 2, 2011.

A bill in Dutch Parliament put up by the Animal Party, banning ritual slaughter is likely to get a majority when being put up for a vote. An alliance of an animal rights party and the xenophobic Freedom Party is spearheading support for the ban on kosher and halal slaughter methods that critics say inflict unacceptable suffering on animals. This proposed law with bans slaughter without pre-stunning.

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The following news from chareidi.shemayisrael.com on March 2, 2011.

The Dutch Parliament is currently considering legislation that would ban shechita, adding the Netherlands to a list of European countries where it is prohibited.
Shechita is banned in Switzerland, Sweden and Norway, but the current bill would set a precedent since, if passed, Holland would become the first country to ban shechita since the formation of the European Union, which could then spread from one country to the next — possibly even reaching the U.S. — and severely inhibit Jewish life.
The ostensive aim of the bill is to reduce suffering of animals by having them all stunned with an electric shocker before slaughter, a practice prohibited by halacha, which requires that the animal be fully conscious at the time of shechita. Stunning is a statutory requirement in the European Union, but exceptions are made for shechita and Muslim ritual slaughter. Many researchers maintain that halachic shechita is the most humane way of slaughtering animals, and it is clear that definite steps are taken with the benefit of the animals in mind.
Holland's Jewish community, which numbers 25,000, is speaking out and trying to organize a lobby to assist them. Opposition to the bill has been joined by numerous Jewish organizations, such as the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the European Jewish Congress (EJC), which has instructed its representatives in Jewish communities in Germany, France and Britain to meet with Dutch ambassadors and explain to them that the law would harm the country's image internationally. Meanwhile in Israel, Knesset members are slated to meet with a delegation of the Dutch parliament to discuss the issue.