From The Daily Yelkaretlis

KATTENDEN, DUNCANHEIM – A butcher in Trippon Square Public Market has been temporarily ordered to cease operations by the Ministry of Health upon the discovery that he had been classifying bats, snakes, and goats as “fish” in his official reports to avoid exceeding the limits on the number of land animals that can be killed in any given year. (He did not, however, label them incorrectly for sale, which would incur higher penalties.)

“The limits on land animal slaughter are enforced for a number of reasons,” said the Deputy Chieftain of Food & Agriculture As It Pertains To Health, in a statement released to press and as a reminder to all licenced butchers nationwide. “It is both to encourage biodiversity for the collective and to improve the health of the individual, both scientifically and spiritually. If we slaughtered so many animals that everyone ate land-meat everyday, both we as people and the ecology around us would suffer. Of course, humans are omnivorous, which is why there is a limit and various legally codified respects to the process of obtaining flesh for consumption, both for land animals and fish, but if even one person starts circumventing those limits, there will be problems for all of us. The legal quantification limits are not part of the Dyrkun rules for hunting and butchery, but they should be held to just as religiously. They are a natural secular extension of the principle of respect for other beings.”

The Daily Yelkaretlis was unable to find out when, if ever, the butcher in question will be allowed to resume operations. We will publish more details, including his name, when the Civil Court issues a decision on the case.