Ritual slaughter of animals bill disputed in the Senate

A dispute over the ritual slaughter of animals has broken out in the Senate, after the Chamber of Deputies approved a bill that would allow slaughterhouses to bleed animals for commercial purposes, Novinky.cz reported. Zdenek Knotek, president of the Czech Association of Veterinarians, said the amendment opens the door to animal cruelty. However, Agriculture Minister Marek Výborný considers the criticism unjustified describing it as  "a hysterical response". The bill allows ritual slaughter to be performed by simply stunning the animal with an electric current, from which the animal can apparently awaken. Until now, only churches and religious societies have been able to perform ritual slaughter with special permission from the authorities. The new law would allow ritual slaughter of animals for business purposes, predominantly for export. Critics say the number of animals slaughtered in this inhumane way would rise sharply.