LAHORE, June 19: Mutton and beef are being sold for Rs250 and Rs130 per kg, respectively, owing to a continuous decrease in slaughtering of animals at abattoirs and failure of the city district government and the town municipal administrations to ensure price control.

The CDG has revised rates of mutton and beef twice during the past one year raising the price of mutton from Rs130 to Rs175 and beef from Rs50 to Rs70 per kg, but meat is not available at the fixed price because of a 50 per cent decrease in slaughter of animals in the city since 1998 and increase in illegal slaughter.

According to figures available with the city district government, slaughtering is decreasing resulting in the shortage of meat supplies and increase in prices. The number of goats and sheep brought to slaughterhouses daily ranged between 7,000 and 10,000 during the late 1990’s. The number of cows, buffaloes and camels slaughtered daily remained between 400 and 500.

The number of goats and sheep slaughtered daily has come down to 4,000 whereas only around 150 cows and buffaloes are being brought daily resulting in increase in prices despite lodging of FIRs against meatsellers.

The CDG veterinary officers attribute the decrease in arrival of animals at slaughterhouses to increase in illegal slaughter by meatsellers at their houses owing to absence of staff for checking it at three of the six towns and export and smuggling of animals.

The veterinary officers are of the view that there is no likelihood of decrease in the actual number of slaughtered animals in view of the raise in meat requirements due to increase in population during the past seven years. Moreover, not only all 5,000 meat shops existing in the city in 1998 are intact but new ones have also been opened. The increasing requirements are met not only by legal and illegal slaughter but also by bringing of meat from the adjoining areas where prices are comparatively low.

They believe that a sizable number of animals are slaughtered at houses of the meatselllers in Data Ganj Bakhsh, Nishtar and Aziz Bhatti towns which have no slaughterhouses and have not recruited veterinary officers for checking illegal slaughter. Exporters also arrange slaughter on their own premises.—Muhammad Asghar