LAHORE: It was a bad day for meat sellers, and of course for meat lovers: livestock officials with district authorities seized on Thursday a huge quantity of unhealthy or illegally processed meat in Lahore, Sheikhupura and Sargodha.

In Lahore, 550 kilo meat was seized while in Sheikhupura and Sargodha, officials impounded 1,938kg and 1,600kg meat, respectively.

A team of Livestock Department officials raided illegal slaughterhouses in Karol Ghati and Thokar Niaz Beg, seized the meat and got arrested seven butchers. The slaughterhouses have been sealed.

Shahpur Kanjran automated slaughterhouse authorities discarded the seized meat.

In Sheikhupura, officials seized 1,938kg meat from different shops and slaughterhouses declaring it unhealthy. The meat included 588kg mutton, 1,277kg beef and 83kg chicken. The stock also included dead animals’ meat, according to Lahore Commissioner Abdullah Sumbal. Up to 12 butchers and suppliers were arrested, who according to preliminary investigation, said the dead animals’ meat was being supplied to Lahore.

In Sargodha, livestock officials seized 1,600kg meat and got arrested six butchers in the Jhaal Chakian area.

Mr Sumbal said that given the enormity of the situation, the chief secretary had asked commissioners and district coordination officers (DCOs) to stop the supply and sale of unhealthy meat and other food items under a special drive and detain the people involved in such trades under 16-MPO if they tried to create a law and order situation.

He said check posts had been established at entry points of the Lahore city and Sheikhupura and Kasur districts to stop the inflow of meat from rural areas. Such posts would be set up in Nanakana Sahib on Friday (today).

“Besides this, we’ve prepared a monitoring pro forma, and an intelligence sharing system to stop unhygienic and illegal meat supplies,” Mr Sumbal said. He did not explain the proforma or the mechanism of intelligence sharing.

He said as laws pertaining to illegal or unhygienic meat sale were bailable offense, the officials had also been empowered to detain the accused under 16-MPO.

He appreciated the administration of Sheikhupura, Lahore, Nankana and Kasur for checking the supply and sale of unhealthy food in their areas. He said he would ask the Lahore DCO to include women officials in the teams raiding illegal slaughterhouses in order to train in such issues.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2015

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