What is Santeria?

The city's code says the law against slaughtering animals is intended to promote "the health, safety, morals and general welfare of the city," "to protect property values" and "to enhance the quality of life of persons, pets and other animals."The dispute has left many residents in the Dallas-Fort Worth area wondering: What is Santeria? How did it get to Euless? And where do you draw the line between religious tolerance and a community's right to ban the killing of animals?Santeria, also known as Lukumi, originated among the Yoruba people in southwestern Nigeria thousands of years ago and came to the Caribbean through the trans-Atlantic slave trade. It arrived in South Florida during the Cuban exodus of the 1960s. High priests, or obas, like Pichardo estimate that there are 3 million to 4 million followers in the U.S.

I hope the city wins. While I believe in religious tolerance, I know I wouldn't want to live next door to someone making animal sacrifices in their home. Perhaps a compromise could be reached where the followers of Santeria had some designated area for their worship services rather then conducting them in their homes in residential neighborhoods. I also have concerns about how humanly the animals are treated? Hopefully those concerns could also be addressed.