GAIA action
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Slaughter without stunning
15 September 2026

Anyone walking past Place de la Monnaie or Place De Brouckère in Brussels can hardly miss them. On two giant GAIA billboards, a sheep sheds a tear of blood. The message is clear: it is time for Brussels to put an end to slaughter without stunning.

While Wallonia and Flanders already banned slaughter without stunning in 2019, Brussels continues to lag far behind. Proposals to change this are already on the table. Yet for now, they remain blocked.

Send an email to Brussels MPs today and ask them to break the political deadlock.

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Political deadlock by MR and Les Engagés, backed by PS and PTB

On 22 April, another attempt was made to put the proposals for the Brussels Animal Welfare Code on the agenda of the competent committee. MR and Les Engagés refused to allow them to be considered. Yet the proposals contain measures that could improve the lives of thousands of animals, including a ban on slaughter without stunning.

The proposals are there. The science is clear. The courts have ruled. Yet to this day, some MPs refuse to even allow Parliament to debate them. How much longer must we wait? We are calling on them to break this political deadlock so that animals no longer have to pay the price.

Michel Vandenbosch
Voorzitter van GAIA
Slaughter

8 in 10 Brussels residents want a ban

There is also strong support for change among Brussels residents themselves. An Ipsos survey conducted for GAIA in February 2024 found that 80% of Brussels residents consider a ban on slaughter without stunning, including in the context of ritual slaughter, an important measure for improving animal welfare. In addition, 93% consider animal welfare important, and nearly 7 in 10 Brussels residents believe that animals suffer greatly when slaughtered without stunning.

The issue of slaughter without stunning can even influence how they vote. One in three Brussels residents (32%) say they would vote for another party if their preferred party refused to ban the practice.

Severe suffering that can largely be avoided

During slaughter without stunning, an animal’s throat is cut while the animal is still conscious. The scientific consensus is clear: this practice causes severe and avoidable animal suffering. The Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE), representing more than 300,000 veterinarians, and Belgium’s Union Professionnelle Vétérinaire consider slaughter without prior stunning unacceptable.

Slaughter without stunning
Slaughter without stunning

The argument that a ban would infringe on freedom of religion has also been tested repeatedly in court.

The Court of Justice of the European Union and the Belgian Constitutional Court have confirmed that requiring animals to be stunned before slaughter is compatible with freedom of religion.

The European Court of Human Rights has also ruled that the bans in Wallonia and Flanders neither violate freedom of religion nor constitute discrimination.

Finally, countries with large Muslim-majority populations, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, have long accepted the import and consumption of meat from animals that were stunned before slaughter.

In New Zealand, one of the world’s largest exporters of halal meat, animals slaughtered according to religious rites are also stunned beforehand.

Make your voice heard

Send an email to the relevant Brussels MPs. Ask them to finally put the proposals for the Brussels Animal Welfare Code on the agenda.

SEND AN EMAIL NOW