WARSAW, Poland (AP) 5/16/2013 For some, it was a barbaric way to treat animals. For others, it was great business. Until January, slaughterhouses across Poland - a deeply Catholic nation - were the unlikely venues for the Islamic and Jewish slaughter of animals, which in both religions involves a swift cut to the throat of a conscious animal and death by bleeding. Millions of euros were being made exporting the halal and kosher meat to countries like Egypt, Iran and Israel, as well as to Muslim and Jewish markets inside Europe. In a victory for a growing animal rights movement, activists succeeded in getting a ban on such religious slaughter. But with economic decline deepening and exports seen as a possible salvation, the government faces pressure to get the practice reinstated legally - and is scrambling to do so. Though Poland's own cuisine is heavy in pork, a meat banned by Jewish and Islamic laws, the... Read more... | 
