Animal rights group sues Jewish centre over Yom Kippur chicken-waving ritual

An animal rights group has sued a Jewish centre in Los Angeles to prevent it from using live chickens in the pre-Yom Kippur kapparot custom.

A lawsuit against the Woodland Hills Hebrew Discovery Centre has been filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court by the Animal Protection and Rescue League — and requests an injunction to block the practice.

Members of the centre performed the ritual last year in its parking lot. The suit alleges that the chickens were killed and discarded without being used for food, violating an animal rights law.

During the ceremony, a chicken is swung by its legs above a person and then slaughtered, symbolically transferring the person’s sins to the bird.

The meat is supposed to be donated to charity — but some people substitute money for the chicken.