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The article examines questions arising from modern-day animal sacrifice for religious purposes. Reported on is a case in where a Santeria priest was prohibited from making a sacrifice without permission of local government. The constitutional issues raised by this injunction are examined. The article notes that the Hmong people and Muslims also practice animal sacrifice.

The article focuses on the protest by Jose Merced, a Santeria priest to a local ordinance in Euless, Texas that bans the slaughter of goats, a part of sacrifices required by his Afro-Carribean religion. Merced contends that the ordinance has violated his constitutional right to the free exercise of religion. Lori Windham, Becket Fund attorney, asserts that the issue of Santeria and animal sacrifice was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

This article reports on Jose Merced, president of a Santeria congregation in Euless, Texas. Merced is suing the city for impinging on his religious freedom. Santeria is an amalgam of Christian and Afro-Cuban beliefs. But the city, responding to complaints from neighbors, has forbidden Merced from sacrificing chickens and goats in a residential home, which serves as the sect's church.