Party for the Animals tables new bill to ban slaughter without stunning
The Party for the Animals (PvdD) sends a bill to the Tweede Kamer today that would require stunning in all slaughter, including ritual slaughter, 15 years after an earlier attempt failed.
The Party for the Animals (PvdD) is sending a bill to the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of parliament, to ban slaughter without stunning. Animals would always have to be stunned beforehand, including in ritual slaughter.
Islamic and Jewish religious rules require animals to be slaughtered without stunning. The PvdD acknowledges that a ban restricts freedom of religion, but considers animal suffering to weigh more heavily.
Not all ritual slaughter is done without stunning. State Secretary Erkens (Agriculture) said earlier this year that two-thirds of animals are stunned before their throats are cut during the Feast of Sacrifice.
The bill goes further. It would end CO2 stunning of pigs and the electrified water bath for chickens, ducks and turkeys. It would also stop heavily pregnant animals being transported to the slaughterhouse.
Ducks, chickens and turkeys could no longer be transported in crates without stunning, nor tipped out of the crates onto a conveyor belt.
A previous PvdD bill to ban slaughter without stunning failed 15 years ago in the Eerste Kamer, the upper house, which weighed freedom of religion more heavily than animal suffering. Earlier this month Erkens said he is "personally" in favour of a ban.
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Tweede Kamer
The House of Representatives, the lower and more powerful house of the Dutch parliament. Its 150 members are elected directly; it can amend bills and holds the cabinet to account.
Eerste Kamer
The Senate, the upper house of the Dutch parliament. It cannot amend bills but can approve or reject them after the Tweede Kamer has passed them. Its 75 members are elected by the members of the provincial councils.
PvdD (Partij voor de Dieren)
The Party for the Animals is a Dutch political party whose main focus is animal welfare and animal rights. It takes part in national elections and has seats in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the States General, where its members can introduce bills like any other party. Its proposals, such as a bill on slaughter without stunning, are therefore debated in parliament alongside those of other parties.