WARSAW, Poland (JTA) — Prosecutors in Bialystok said the Jewish ritual slaughter of a cow last month in the northeastern town of Tykocin did not violate Polish law.
The prosecutors did not pursue a case after looking into the March 12 ritual slaughter.
Urszula Sienczylo, the chief prosecutor of Bialystok, said the Animal Protection Act prohibits slaughter without stunning, but the 1997 Act on the Relation of the State to the Jewish Communities in Poland states that ritual slaughter may be performed in accordance with the needs of the local Jewish community.
Beginning Jan. 1, Poland banned slaughter without stunning. The Ministry of Agriculture announced that it will introduce changes that will again allow ritual slaughter, known as shechitah.
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