The European Parliament has voted to legalize kosher slaughter practices across Europe. 'Shechita' is currently banned in six EU countries. The European Jewish Congress and conference of European Jewish Rabbis lobbied lawmakers to adopt the bill. The vote defeated efforts by animal rights groups to ban kosher slaughtering who claim the method is cruel and have succeeded in banning kosher slaughtering in Latvia, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia and Lithuania. Switzerland allows the method for poultry but not for other animals.
Rabbi Michael Melchior, former chief rabbi of Norway and currently a member of the Knesset, said that kosher slaughter was actually more humane than the practices in slaughterhouses. "The Torah forbids cruelty to animals, and the shechita process ensures that the animal loses consciousness immediately," he said. "We have been dealing with this issue for many years, and there are many scientific studies that back us up."
The European Parliament vote "represents the first time that 'shechita' has been recognized as a legitimate form of animal slaughter by any European institution," said Henry Grunwald, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and chair of 'Shechita EU'. 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."
