Farmer finds nearly 80 sheep ritually slaughtered in his field

Police have opened an investigation into animal cruelty after the animals' throats were cut

79 sheep out of 131 were killed before the local police could intervene (file photo)

(AFP/Getty Images)

Nearly 80 sheep have been ritually slaughtered in a field in the Austrian Alps in what animal protection staff described as a "flagrant breach of the law".

An unnamed farmer in the Styria region said he had lent his field to a friend for a month so 131 sheep could graze.

But the friend did not tell him the sheep were being bred to be sacrificed as part of Islamic Eid al-Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice.

During the festival, which comes in the middle of the Haji, Muslims slaughter sheep, goats or cows to commemorate the day they believe Abraham, known as Ibrahim to Muslims, was told by God to sacrifice his son but was eventually allowed to kill a sheep instead.

Muslims who can afford it are supposed to sacrifice their best animal as a symbol of Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his only son for God and then donate at least part of the meat to the poor.

After seeing what was happening witnessed called the police, who rushed to the scene and prevented 52 sheep being slaughtered.

Under Austrian law, all sacrifices performed as part of the festival had to take place in official slaughterhouses where humane conditions can be guaranteed but the 79 animals reportedly bled to death for several minutes.

Slaughtered animals must be drained of blood as consuming it is forbidden in Islam.

A police spokesman told the Local that it appeared the sheep had their carotid arteries cut in accordance with Muslim tradition and an investigation into animal cruelty had been launched.

Slaughtering animals in public is also illegal in Austria.

The head of a local animal shelter, Herbet Oster, told Austrian newspaper Die Presse: "There is lack of awareness that it is a terrible injustice and a flagrant breach of the law".