An animal rights group cannot use a mandamus action to compel New York City to stop ultra-Orthodox Jews from openly practicing the ritual of Kaporos, in which chickens’ throats are sliced on public streets, a divided appeals court ruled Tuesday.
A 3-2 panel of the Appellate Division, First Department, decided that the 17 statutes and regulations at issue—most focused on the slaughter of animals, public health and animal cruelty—involve law enforcement’s discretion and therefore fall outside of what can be compelled by a writ of mandamus.
