Must religion override animal welfare?

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Most of Belgium has now banned the practice of ritual slaughter of animals unless they are pre-stunned. That means that they are not conscious when their throats are cut and they are allowed to bleed to death. This is a move that has been widely appreciated, and it joins similar bans in other European countries including Sweden, Norway, Finland and Switzerland. However, it has not gone down well with some Jews and Muslims, who claim that this is an attack on their religions, which demand that the animal be in perfect health at the moment of death - i.e. fully conscious. The question therefore arises as to what can be tolerated in the modern world, where animal welfare is rightly given a high priority. While respecting anyone's right to follow a religion, should that also mean that they have a right to pursue practices that originated thousands of years ago but are now widely regarded as being nothing short of barbaric?