Immigration 13,000 sheep 'illegally' sacrificed in Belgium during Islamic festival

[Maciamo]

Expatica : Up to 13,000 sheep are 'illegally' sacrificed

As many as 13,000 sheep were sacrificed in Belgian homes on Tuesday as part of the Islamic festival Eid al-Kebir.

In theory, slaughtering animals in private is illegal and the authorities have set up a number of authorised abattoirs to encourage Muslims to use a legal alternative.
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Although the federal and regional authorities have suggested that Muslims find alternative ways to celebrate the festival, such as giving presents, it is clear that many want to practice the Islamic custom. The head of the household selects a sheep and has it killed in homage to a reference in the Koran of Abraham, sacrificing a sheep in place of his only son as a sign devotion to Allah.

Kir said 4,000 sheep had been sacrificed at official sites, which was better for public health and ensured Muslims protection from prosecution. "This is a huge success for the project which is exceptional and unique in Europe," he said. "We've had Dutch and French delegations visiting to find out more."

However, since the vast majority of the ceremonies continue to take place in private, local authorities (communes) have been faced with a dilemma: do they make provision for disposing of thousands of carcasses, from a ceremony which is banned in homes?

Kir admitted he had granted permission to Schaerbeek and Saint-Gilles to obtain special containers in time for the festival.
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Muslims across Europe have sacrified sheep for Eid al-Kebir. From what this article says, only Belgium has provided official sites for the sacrifices to take place in a concern for public health. I am not sure if other countries do ban the slaughtering animals in private, but if they do, they either turn a blind eye or would run into serious troubles with their Islamic communities. As I haven't seen any report of trouble, I suppose that they allow it or turn a blind eye.

The question is: why should Muslim be exempt from following the law in this particular case ? Why does their religion affiliation give them more rights, when another citizen would be arrested or fined for doing the same ?kashii: