Whoever had "Detroit suburb will allow Muslims to sacrifice animals in their backyards" on their 2023 bingo card, congratulations, the year isn't even two weeks old and you already nailed it:
After several months of contentious debate and pressure from Muslim residents, Hamtramck City Council voted Tuesday night to allow the religious sacrifice of animals on residential property.
Well, that's kinda nuts. I mean, you just wouldn't really expect that from a midwestern U.S. city. How much "pressure" was the council feeling from "Muslim residents," anyway?
Muslims often slaughter animals during the holiday of Eid al-Adha and Hamtramck has one of the highest percentage of Muslim residents among cities in the U.S.
Still, even with a high percentage of Muslim residents, you'd think a city council would balk at this sort of thing in the end, right?
The all-Muslim city council voted 3-2, with Mayor Amer Ghalib casting the tie-breaking vote, to amend a city ordinance to allow religious sacrifice of animals at home.
Ahhhh.
Well, when someone's got the numbers and the drive, you can't really blame them for instituting their preferred laws and policies. That's not to say there wasn't pushback, though:
Some residents and animal rights advocates have expressed opposition to the ordinance changes, saying they will lead to animal cruelty and sanitation problems in Hamtramck, one of the most densely populated cities in Michigan. They said they worry about people being traumatized by seeing the throats of goats, lambs and cows being slit in backyards, with blood splattering and entrails falling out.
But Hassan said allowing animal slaughter will not make the city "blow up with the nasty blood, contamination."
