BAHAWALNAGAR: The livestock, health and other departments concerned have still not taken any action on a viral video showing a butcher selling the meat of a dying animal.

Despite the video being viral on social media for days, the departments are silent over the sale of sick, dead and dying animals in and around Bahawalnagar. The citizens have demanded that the authorities move against these butchers and stop the practice that is dangerous for public health.

In the aforementioned video, a butcher, identified as Aslam of Chak Sarkari, was recorded buying a dying buffalo for just Rs5,000 and claiming that he would sell its meat to local hotels after getting an approval stamp on it from a veterinary doctor for Rs2,000. The man also claimed in the video that hotels liked this meat as they got it cheap to use it in kebabs and barbecue.

Earlier, on Dec 31, some videos of dead and infected chicken in McLeod Ganj area had gone viral and the citizens’ protest led the livestock department to lodge a police case against the supplier and butcher under the Slaughter Control Act of 1963. However, the residents of McLeod Ganj, including Ali Ahmed Sagar and Bashir Ahmed Joya, said the authorities did not take any action even after the videos of sick and dead chickens being sold in the area had gone viral. They said this led to a protest by the citizens who demanded immediate action by Minchinabad veterinary doctor Hassan Raza.

However, Mr Raza allegedly refused to take action, saying that it was job of the Punjab Health Department, the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) or the local chief officer.

The locals claimed to have made attempts to contact the PFA and health officials but none responded. After this, the residents said Minchinabad Assistant Commissioner Muzammil Ilyas was told about the situation and on his directions, naib tehsildar Javaid Lakhwera went to the site along with the livestock lab team and took action against them. The residents further said that because of the delay, the butchers had already disposed of the substandard meat.

The citizens said on their request a butcher, named Hasnain, told the livestock and revenue officials about a chicken meat supplier who sold unwholesome meat and also gave the team samples for lab tests. They said the samples proved that unhealthy meat was being sold in the market. They said the livestock department had lodged an FIR not only against the supplier, Maqsood, but also the butcher, Hasnain, who was told the team about the supplier in public interest.//

Some butchers, on the condition of anonymity, told Dawn that unhealthy meat was being sold openly in the market and the officials took bribe from them and suppliers to let them do business. The butchers added that around 150 to 200 cattle, mostly buffaloes, were slaughtered daily at the so-called slaughterhouses of the district everyday in unhygienic conditions. They said the meat was distributed among the retailers and veterinary doctors stamp the meat after getting [monthly] bribe.

Talking about the unhealthy meat being sold, Health Chief Executive Officer Dr Waseem said this was not a matter of the health department but the officials of livestock department and the PFA were empowered to take action in such cases.

PFA south Punjab PRO Yasir Arafat said officials of the authority checked meat shops regularly for cleanliness arrangements and fined offenders on the spot and 113 butchers were served notices during last month and fine worth Rs15,000 was imposed. However, he added, that according to the law, the PFA could not decide if the meat was of a dead animal as this was a responsibility of the livestock department. He said the livestock department also had the expertise in this regard and had veterinary doctors and equipment to check the quality of the meat.

Livestock Additional Deputy Director Dr Haq Nawaz said slaughtering of animals, maintenance of slaughterhouses and identification of illegal slaughterhouses was a responsibility of the tehsil municipal administration.

He claimed after the recent amendment to the Slaughter Act, checking of unhealthy meat was not a responsibility of the livestock department but of chief officers in tehsil administration.

Dr Nawaz said the municipal committee had got the services of veterinary doctors for a mere Rs3,000 per month and the livestock department was not responsible for any activity of doctors or butchers after the slaughtering was completed in the slaughterhouses while checking hygiene was the job of the PFA. Giving an example, he said that in the matter of unhealthy chicken meat found in McLeod Ganj, the livestock department had lodged the FIRs instead of the local administration, who was actually responsible for it.

Speaking about the viral video, Dr Nawaz said the livestock department had initiated an inquiry and identified the butcher and warned him. But, he said, it was not authorised to do more than this.

Bahawalnagar Assistant Commissioner Munawar Hussain Magsi showed his ignorance about the aforementioned video but assured of strict action against anyone selling unhealthy meat.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2020