GUJRAT: Veterinarians have demanded a separate directorate to run slaughterhouses to bring the slaughtering of animals at par with the international standards.

Dr Khurram Shah, vice president of Pakistan Veterinary Medical Association (Punjab chapter), says the government should introduce major reforms in the functioning of the livestock department as this sector has the potential of 4 per cent annual growth whereas the share of the livestock was around 10 to 11 per cent of the GDP.

Unfortunately, he said, the livestock sector had never been a priority of the government since most of the veterinary hospitals were in shambles.

He said the condition of these hospitals could be improved through renovation of the building infrastructure as well as construction of residential blocks in such hospitals so that the vets and staff could remain on duty round the clock.

Says stray dogs real threat to animals, warns against shortage of rabies vaccine

Slaughterhouses across the country, he regretted, had been the most neglected part of the local governments and as such were the most dirtiest sites.

He said a separate directorate of slaughterhouses under the director general of livestock in Punjab should manage the slaughterhouses.

Currently, he said, a part time vet would examine the slaughterhouses without authority to take punitive action against any illegal activity. He had to rely on municipality staff responsible for issuing licences or registration of butchers.

Similarly, he said that there was no check on illegal slaughtering of animals on streets and roads in rural areas and union councils.

Shah said currently five directorates were working under the DG livestock such as extension, breed improvement, production, research and poultry management.

“Reforms can ensure improvement in quality of meat as well as byproducts such as hides, bones, blood and etc could also generate handsome revenue.”

He said that former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif had established a world class slaughterhouse in Shahpur Kanjran in Lahore and that standard should be followed in the rest of province to bring an improvement.

Warning against the shortage of anti rabies, Shah said stray dogs were the real threat to the lives of animals in rural areas where the incidence of dog biting of animals had reached at an alarming level. He said he himself had examined and treated a large number of such animals in Gujrat district during the last few months.

He demanded that the administration should take immediate measures to address the problem through provision of anti- rabies as well as elimination of the stray dogs.

Highlighting the plight of animals, he said that maltreatment of the animals during transportation had also been a threat to the health of livestock in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2020