New Zealand Jewish Community Preparing To Sue Over Ban On Kosher Slaughter

JTA today reports that the Jewish community in New Zealand is preparing to file a lawsuit challenging the government's recent decision refusing to exempt kosher slaughter from a new Animal Welfare Slaughter Code that requires animals be stunned before being killed. (See prior posting.) Attempts to convince the Agriculture Minister to reverse the ban have not succeeded. The lawsuit will likely claim that the ban violates religious freedom protected by New Zealand's Bill of Rights Act . The Animal Welfare Act of 1999, Sec. 73, provides that in proposing a Code under the Act, the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee is to consider, among other things, the requirements of religious and cultural practices.