Police launch sheep slaughter inspections for Eid

Police in Belgium have launched a series of inspections at sheep farms in the area outside Brussels in order to obtain information about people who plan to slaughter a sheep in their own home as part of celebrations to mark the Feast of Sacrifice (Eid Al-Adha) which falls today, several Belgian media have reported. Slaughtering sheep at home is a criminal act in Belgium and it can only be carried out in an abattoir. Police are checking whether the transport of the sheep complies with animal welfare legislation, but also the animal's destination. People who want their own sheep slaughtered need a special certificate issued in Belgium and have to be able to produce documentary evidence that they have paid for the abattoir services. If people cannot produce this documentation, police will assume that they want to slaughter the animal in their own home.

(KUNA)