A private bill which would have the effect of banning Jewish ritual slaughter in Britain will be introduced in Parliament Wednesday. The government has already expressed opposition to the measure and it is not expected to achieve passage.
The bill is authored by R.F. Crouch, Conservative member who has introduced similar measures in previous years and who has the support of the Council of Justice to Animals and the Humane Slaughter Association. Mr. Crouch’s bill would require that animals be stunned before blood is drawn, a method contrary to shechita.
The backers of the Crouch bill have been on a national propaganda campaign to enlist public support for it and have made representations to members of all parties in the House. The Board of Deputies of British Jews has waged an equally vigorous campaign, publicizing medical and scientific views that shechita is as humane a method of slaughter as any other.
The government’s opposition to the bill was made clear last week when G.F.H. Nugent, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, told Commons that it would be wrong to deprive a minority group of its meat supply. He pointed out the safe guards used by ritual slaughterers against avoidable cruelty and suffering to the animals and said the government would not support any bill designed to prohibit the Jewish method of slaughter.
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