A LAMB was slaughtered at a south Bucks military base as part of a religious celebration, sparking a Ministry of Defence probe, the Bucks Free Press can reveal.

The animal was killed at a party at the Defence School of Languages Beaconsfield to mark the Muslim festival of Eid-al-Adha in October last year.

The Royal Military Police and the RSPCA investigated the incident and took no further action.

A south Bucks Muslim leader condemned the killing – and said slaughter was rarely practiced in the community.

The Bucks Free Press understands the lamb was bought for the party at the base, pictured, off the A40 London Road.

It was attended by students at the school, which provides foreign language teaching to the British armed forces and English language teaching to foreign armed forces.

RSPCA spokesman Sophie Wilkinson said: “The allegation was that the lamb had been caused to suffer unnecessarily.”

She said: “We are not taking any further action.

“We could not establish any evidence that the animal had actually suffered.”

MoD spokesman Thomas Bennett said: “The Royal Military Police and RSPCA fully investigated the incident and decided not to take any action.

“The matter is now under consideration by the unit for any further internal action.”

Information from the Department for Food Environment and Rural Affairs says the law permits the slaughter, known as Qurbani/Udhia, on three conditions.

These are that it is practiced by a licensed Muslim slaughterman, by the Islamic method and in a licensed slaughterhouse under “official veterinary supervision”.

It adds: “Qurbani / Udhia is not permitted in fields or in farm buildings or in domestic or other premises.”

Zahid Jawed, spokesman for the Wycombe Islamic Society, said: “They shouldn’t have done it. Maybe they didn’t know the rules and the law.”

He said some Muslims would go to a slaughterhouse for the celebration but the “vast majority” do not. Instead they send money abroad where the animal is slaughtered and the meat given to the needy, he said.

Tony Moore, chairman of pressure group Fight Against Animal Cruelty in Europe, condemned religious slaughter, irrespective of whether laws were followed. He said: “It is strange we celebrate something with death, however it is done.”

Eid-al-Adha is marked to commemorate Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael to show his obedience to God.

Once he had shown his obedience God provided a ram in his son’s place, which was sacrificed.

It is one of two festivals of Eid. The other is Eid ul-Fitr, a holiday which marks the end of the Ramadan fasting period. Guidance on how to slaughter animals is in the Holy Quran, the Sunnah and the traditions practised by the Sahabah (Companions of the Prophet).

It states the animal should be slaughtered using a very sharp knife, penetrating the throat, in one stroke.