Unsedated slaughter is finally on the Brussels agenda

Five years after Flanders and Wallonia approved a ban on unsedated slaughter, the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region is also considering the issue. N-VA group chairman Cieltje Van Achter is pleased that the N-VA proposal of 2017 is now on the agenda after all these years.

In the coming weeks, the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region will consider three proposals to ban unsedated slaughter. After the presentation of the proposals, there will be hearings with the religious communities and economic operators. Voting will normally take place within three weeks, on 8 June.

80 % of animals are slaughtered without sedation

Cieltje Van Achter is pleased that something is finally happening. “In Brussels, 80% of animals are still slaughtered without sedation. That is not acceptable today. The scientific consensus clearly states that animals suffer more when they are slaughtered without being sedated. We really need to do something about this unnecessary additional animal suffering. I am therefore very clearly arguing for a ban on slaughter without sedation, just as in Flanders and Wallonia. Indeed, our highest courts have confirmed this ban.”

Different norms and values in Brussels?

It has already been shown in the past that it is not certain that a ban in Brussels would receive sufficient support. Cieltje Van Achter does not understand why the same parties that approved the ban on unsedated slaughter in Flanders and Wallonia are suddenly taking a different stance in Brussels. “In Flanders and Wallonia, the ban was approved without even one vote against it. Do the Brussels MPs suddenly have different norms and values than their Flemish and Walloon party colleagues?”