Can I slaughter my sacrificial animal (Kurban) at home, in the garden or on a farm?

What is not allowed, what is required?

• In Flanders, slaughtering sheep, goats and pigs at home has been banned since 1 January 2025. The only exception is for registered farmers and people with a competence certificate and a stunning device. The Constitutional Court upheld this ban in April 2026.
• In Wallonia, slaughtering sheep, goats or pigs at home is still possible today. You must notify the municipality at least 2 days in advance and stun the animal; home slaughter without stunning is banned. The government plans to ban home slaughter by private persons. Ask your municipality first.
• In Flanders and Wallonia, the animal must be stunned before slaughter. The only exception in Flanders: for cattle (except calves) slaughtered according to a religious rite, stunning may temporarily be done immediately after the throat is cut, until the Flemish Government decides that reversible stunning is workable.
• In Brussels (as of October 2026), religious slaughter without stunning is still allowed, but only in an approved slaughterhouse. Sacrificial animals may not be slaughtered at home or anywhere else outside a slaughterhouse. The rule may change; proposals for a ban are pending in the Brussels Parliament.
• The safest option for Kurban: arrange the animal through organisations that work with an approved slaughterhouse or slaughter site.
• Mistreating an animal or neglecting it is also a separate offence (Flanders: Animal Welfare Code 2024; Wallonia: Walloon Animal Welfare Code; Brussels: law of 14 August 1986).

Penalty and indirect consequences

Why does this rule exist?

The rule protects animal welfare and public health. In a slaughterhouse, a vet carries out checks; the meat is checked for disease and waste is disposed of safely. The stunning rule is there to reduce the animal's pain.