Flanders, northern Belgium, bans un-stunned halal and kosher slaughter

Belgium bans halal and kosher slaughter methods which see animals killed without being stunned first

Flanders, northern Belgium, bans un-stunned halal and kosher slaughter. 

Animals must now be stunned before their throats are cut in religious ritual.

Jewish and Muslim groups say it violates EU law of freedom of religion.

By Sara Malm for MailOnline

Published: 10:22, 7 January 2019 Updated: 14:15, 7 January 2019

A Belgian region has banned halal and kosher slaughter unless the animal is stunned before it is killed, despite critics saying it violates freedom of religion.

The northern region of Flanders is the first in Belgium to implement the ban, followed by the southern region of Wallonia in September. 

When proposed, the law was slammed as 'the greatest assault on Jewish religious rights since Nazi occupation' by the European Jewish Congress.

Both the Muslim halal and Jewish kosher rituals require that butchers slaughter the animal by slitting its throat and draining the blood.

Under the new law, animals will have to be stunned electrically before being killed, which most animal rights campaigners say is more humane than the halal and kosher rituals.