January 15, 2013

Poland restricts traditional killing of animals

Poland has banned the ritual slaughter of animals without proper stunning effective January 1, 2013.

The ban stems from the Polish Constitutional Court decision that the existing regulation regarding ritual slaughter is contrary to Animal Protection Act and Polish Constitution.

The Animal Protection Act requires the stunning of animals before slaughter and does not allow for any exception to this rule.

The 2004 Regulation allowed for the ritual slaughter of animals by bleeding without prior stunning. As a result of the court's ruling, the challenged Ministry of Agriculture regulation expired as of December 31, 2012.