An Italian appeals court last week overturned the animal cruelty conviction of two Romanian travelers who had been fined by a lower court for the public slaughter of a young goat to mark the Muslim festival Eid al-Adah (the Feast of the Sacrifice).
The Local yesterday reported on the decision by the appellate court in Genoa:
In overturning the conviction, judge Mauro Amisano wrote that animal cruelty charges “presume the lack of any valid motive which renders the cruelty abject and futile.”
Amisano added that the sacrifice had a valid motive as it was part of a religious festival and had been carried out according to longstanding tradition.
“As part of a religious practice, one can assume the men did not expose the animal to any additional suffering,” he added.
“It cannot be considered illegal because it is a practice which is permitted by the freedom of religious expression.”
