CHICAGO, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- A Muslim man in Chicago says he should not be facing charges for slaughtering a lamb in preparation for the Islamic holiday of Ramadan.
Abdulsalam Alawi, 38, said after purchasing four lambs from a Wisconsin farm last weekend, one of the animals appeared to be dying, forcing him to kill it, based on his Islamic beliefs, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday.
Islamic law states an animal cannot die before being butchered, meaning Alawi was facing the possibility of the lamb dying and being unusable as meat.
"I had to kill it before it died. If it dies you can't eat it. I'd have to just throw it away," insists Alawi, who maintains he was taking the lambs to a butcher shop to have them killed in accordance with Islamic law.
A neighbor's complaint led to Alawi's arrest at his Chicago home Sunday and now he faces four counts of possession of animals for slaughter.
Alawi is doubtful he will regain ownership of the surviving lambs from Animal Care and Control to use during Ramadan.
"Now, I'll probably just get some fresh chicken from (the butcher) shop," he told the Sun-Times.
