A local butcher shop in South Australia has refused to change its shopfront signage despite being told by the Ad Standards it was “inciting hatred” towards Islamic people.

The Valley Butchers in Adelaide became the subject of a complaint to Ad Standards after the shop owners put up a sign that read “non halal certified” on the front of their store, surrounded by smaller stickers of kangaroos and emus.

A complaint over the signage said it “pokes fun of a specific group of people based on religious belief”.

“It is very intentional and obvious,” the complaint continued. “Jokes like this on a public shopfront perpetuate a culture of vilification towards religious minorities that results in harm towards them.”

Valley Butchers defended itself to Ad Standards, saying the sign intended “no malice” towards the community and was simply intended to inform people they didn’t sell halal-certified products.

The business owners explained they’d put the sign in place after receiving a large volume of queries from customers about whether or not their products were halal certified.

“The sign is only stating that we are not halal approved,” Valley Butchers said in a written response to the board.

“In no way is it meant in a malice way. We were getting asked quite frequently whether we are halal approved, so I am just stating that we are not and that saves a lot of wasted time.”

media_camera Valley Butchers’ amended sign, from 'non halal certified' to 'not halal certified'.

media_camera The sign also features images of Australian animals.

But the judgment panel took issue with the sign’s wording and the use of Australian animals, saying it gave the impression Islamic people might not be welcome inside the store.

“Using the phrase ‘non halal certified’ in conjunction with imagery of Australian animals was a suggestion that Islamic dietary practices are not Australian,” the panel said in their judgment, which was handed down in August.

A majority of the panel also ruled the signage gave “a strong impression that people of a certain religion or ethnicity might not be welcome in the store”.

“Had the sign stated ‘not halal approved’ or ‘unfortunately, non halal’ this would be less likely to have been considered discriminatory or vilifying signage,” the Ad Standards panel concluded.

The business has since changed the sign so it now reads “not halal certified” instead of “non halal certified” but is refusing to remove the images of the emus and kangaroos, according to The Daily Mail.

“As long as we own the shop the sign won’t ever come down!” a Facebook post read.

This is despite the Ad Standards’ majority ruling finding the signage was a breach of the advertisers’ code of ethics.

“The majority of the panel considered that the sign’s wording and images amounted to a depiction that was inciting hatred or contempt of a group of people based on their religious practices or Muslim origin,” the panel said in its ruling.

The owners told The Daily Mail they would await a second hearing before making any further alterations to the signage.

News.com.au contacted Valley Butchers but did not receive a response.

Originally published as Butcher refuses to change ‘not halal’ sign