The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety and Halal Food Authority demanded for taking practical steps for improvement of slaughterhouses in Peshawar so that consumers could get quality meat in routine.
In a letter to secretary local government and rural development, the food authority stated that gross violations were observed during an inspection of one of the major private slaughterhouses in Peshawar's Town-I on June 5. The inspection was conducted under the supervision of deputy director operations.
According to a statement of the KP Food Authority, it was stated that overall condition of the slaughterhouses was poor and there was no compliance of general hygiene principles. It claimed that the owner said he was unable to provide hygienic slaughtering services under the present agreement with the government.
"As per the principle of Islam, an animal which is sick, recumbent, underage, pregnant or wounded cannot be slaughtered. Surprisingly, blatant disregard for this very important principle was witnessed by the inspection team," the letter said.
It was stated that the team possessed all the videos and photos evidence. It said sick animals were slaughtered after permission granted to them by a veterinary doctor. Owner of the slaughterhouse denied any responsibility in the matter and blamed the doctor of livestock department for the negligence.
The letter recommends that strong disciplinary action should be initiated against the veterinary doctor and licence of the slaughterhouse be cancelled.
The authority has also sent letters to other relevant officials of the agriculture, livestock and dairy development department to hold a meeting regarding regulation of slaughterhouses and establishing mechanised slaughterhouses in KP.
The letter further reads that meat holds pivotal significance in meeting dietary requirements. Therefore, healthy, hygienic and safe meat is the need of hour. Keeping in view the dismal state of affairs regarding slaughtering of animals, there is a dire need to address this urgently. Currently, there are few mechanized slaughter houses in Pakistan with no such facility located in KP.
The very purpose of the letter is to sensitize the upper echelon of the Government for devising a workable strategy to solve this problem on priority.
Earlier on, the statement said that a similar request was made to the Local Government & Rural Development Department and Agriculture, Livestock & Dairy Development Department through letter, where suggestion was made to hold a meeting regarding regulation of slaughterhouses and establishing mechanized slaughterhouses in KP, so as to ensure provision of safe and healthy food to the general public. The letter was sent to the secretary Agriculture, Livestock and Dairy Dev Department.