Fines and imprisonment for slaughtering sacrifices without a license
Dutch authorities have dismantled several unlicensed slaughter sites across the country in recent days, coinciding with the Eid al-Adha (Offerfeest), during which many animals are typically slaughtered. The newspaper "AD" reported that the interventions included the confiscation of carcasses of sheep and the rescue of others still alive.
In a major raid carried out on Friday at a farm in the Noord-Limburg area, inspectors from the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) discovered four dead sheep and large quantities of slaughter waste. Eight live sheep were also found and were transferred to the animal welfare organization Comité Dierennoodhulp, which is working to secure shelter for them under an official agreement with the authority.
The NVWA reported that its inspectors and the police are on high alert during the Eid al-Adha period, with intensified inspections targeting illegal and unlicensed slaughter activities. For its part, the Comité Dierennoodhulp organization announced that it rescued 13 sheep from illegal slaughter in recent days, describing the scenes it witnessed as "painful," as sheep were seen waiting their turn for slaughter in harsh conditions.
The organization responded on Thursday to a report of two sheep in the backyard of a shawarma restaurant in Veldhoven in the Noord-Brabant region, and the day before, sheep were found tied inside car trunks in the areas of Edam and Katwoude. The NVWA confirmed these incidents without disclosing the names of the locations.
In another incident, NVWA announced on Thursday the discovery of an illegal slaughterhouse on a farm in Gelderland province, without confirming its connection to Eid al-Adha. During the holiday period, veterinarians from NVWA are stationed at licensed slaughterhouses to ensure that slaughter operations comply with the animal welfare laws in the Netherlands. Outside of those facilities, additional inspection campaigns are carried out in response to citizen reports. Illegal slaughter, especially without stunning the animal and outside licensed slaughterhouses, is a crime in the Netherlands, and offenders face fines of up to 103,000 euros and prison sentences of up to six years.