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Ecolo Co-Chair Calls for Comprehensive Debate on Animal Welfare and Ritual Slaughter in Belgium
Sunday 23 January 2022, by
At a time when political parties such as the Independent Federalist Democrat (DéFI) and the Reformist Movement (MR) are calling for an end to ritual slaughter without stunning, former Belgian MP of Moroccan origin Rajae Mouane, co-chair of Ecolo, wants there to be a "global debate" on the subject.
"In this debate, I don’t want any hypocrisy: animal welfare must effectively evolve, but if we want a real debate, there must be a global debate. Why should we focus on the last minutes of the animal’s life," she said during her appearance on the "+d’Actu" program on BX1. According to her, this debate should focus on the living conditions of the animal, its transport, etc. "I think it’s dangerous in these debates to work in silos and I think the most coherent thing is to come to a much more global, much broader debate," added Rajae Mouane.
"For the environmentalists, there are two extremely important beacons: the first is respect for animal welfare, it’s something that’s extremely important and it’s part of the DNA of the environmentalists. The other beacon that is extremely important for us is respect for freedoms, including freedom of worship. We see that slaughter techniques and religious practices are evolving and so the two are absolutely not incompatible and we will try to arrive at a solution, a situation that suits the greatest number," continued the co-chair of Ecolo.