Abstract

The Italian Committee for Bioethics (CNB), in a well-known 2003 Opinion, recalled the ontological and ethical primacy of human dignity and human responsibility towards animals. The CNB addressed the cross-cultural and inter-religious bioethical issue of ritual slaughter, calling for a settlement between practices prescribed by religious precepts and laws aimed at reducing animal suffering. Recently, the European Court of Human Rights, ruling on the issue of the protection of animal welfare – precisely with reference to cases of ritual slaughter – brought it back to public morality, extending the meaning of the public morality not only to the duty to protect human dignity, but also to the separate duty to promote animal welfare. In this context, in a de iure condendo perspective, it’s also necessary to consider other forms of slaughter that respond to new cultural and religious needs compared to those already known to the European scenario