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Does Animal Welfare Trump Religious Liberty? The Danish Ban On Kosher And Halal Butchering, R J. Delahunty

San Diego International Law Journal

Western European governments since the eighteenth century Enlightenment have frequently enacted laws and regulations that have adverse effects (sometimes intended) on traditional Jewish ritual practices, including Sabbath observance, dress, and dietary practices. Regulations of the latter kind have often been adopted in the name of sparing animals from the purportedly cruel and inhumane methods used in the Jewish ritual slaughtering of cattle. Last year, the Danish Ministry of Food and Agriculture issued regulations that require the stunning of cattle before they can be slaughtered. Defended on the grounds of animal welfare, the regulations had the foreseen effect of precluding the …