I was recently watching the Animal Planet cops show, which is about SPCA agents in several different cities (Detroit, Houston, San Francisco, NYC and Miami) who investigate reports of animal abuse. I was watching the one in New York City, and the agents discovered a Latino family (it didn't say from where) that was keeping undernourished goats and chickens at their house, which it turned out were for sacrificing; the family practiced Santeria. Apparently this comes up a lot for the SPCA in many U.S. cities where there's a large Latino population like NYC, Miami and Houston. I had never thought about the fact that Latino immigrants might bring with them practices that aren't considered acceptable in the U.S.-and the solution to this issue is unclear to me. Should/can these practices be allowed here in the U.S.? (In the show, they confiscated the animals but did not prosecute the family).
I never imagined I would find Latin American studies material on Animal Planet-it's everywhere!
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Historically, animal sacrifice has been (and in some cases, continues to be) an intrical part of major world religions such as Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism, as well as the lesser familiar religions such as those associated with the African Traditional Systems (i.e. Ifa, Santeria, Candomble, Palo, Vodoun, etc).
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees all Americans the right to practice the religion of their choosing, free from government interference.
For those religions that do practice animal sacrifice, it is considered important that the animals be as healthy as possible and treated as humanely as possible, not only because they are being offered to God, but because they are usually cooked and shared with the community after the ceremony.
The problem is that many practitioners of these "traditional systems" live in urban environments that are not well-suited to even the short-term care of livestock. Adding to the problem are members of the general society who are insensitive to the religious needs of others, thereby forcing these minority religious members to practice as secretly as possible.
The end result is livestock that is often purchased at the last minute (regardless of physical condition), who are "housed" in cardboard boxes, burlap bags, and/or cages stuffed into bathrooms, basements or the corner of a living room.
It's not that these people wish to be deliberately cruel to animals; it's simply a matter of being unable to provide for the needs of the animals and yet manage to avoid conflict with city laws (that usually prohibit the keeping of any livestock within city limits for any period of time) and intolerant neighbors.
In 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Lucumi/Santeria Church of Babalu Aye when they took the City of Hialeah, Florida to court over the city ordinance that prohibited the "unnecessar[y]" killing of "an animal in a public or private ritual or ceremony not for the primary purpose of food consumption." Yet despite this ruling, cities and counties continue to write ordinances intended to discriminate against those who follow legitimate religions that practice animal sacrifice.
The irony is that many of those who are so intolerant of animal sacrifice think nothing of eating meat and supporting the livestock industry here in America and abroad, despite the well-documented and well-known adverse conditions that these "meat-animals" are forced to endure.
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