Pope asked to end Easter lamb 'slaughter'

(ANSA) - Rome, April 16 - The head of an Italian animal rights group on Wednesday appealed to the pope to call for the end of eating lamb on Easter.
    "Holy Father, stop the shameful slaughter of lambs killed only to satisfy human greed on Easter," wrote the president of the Italian Animal and Environment Defense Association (AIDAA), Lorenzo Croce. The letter, sent by facsimile, was described as a "heartfelt" request, asking the pontiff to intervene for the "protection of the lambs and all the other animals killed and tortured on the planet," according to a note issued by AIDAA.
    Croce asked Pope Francis to defend animals because they are also "part of creation that has been entrusted (to men) to be protected and certainly not to be massacred".