ANKARA, Dec 28: Can a kangaroo or an ostrich be sacrificed? Can a woman be the butcher? Are children allowed to watch the ritual? These were some of the questions that dozens of Turks had to answer at an exam here on Thursday to obtain official butcher certificates ahead of Eid-ul-Adha, to be celebrated for three days from Sunday.

The exam marked the end of a training programme on hygiene, proper animal slaughter and healthy meat consumption, organised by the Yenimahalle municipality as part

of increasing efforts here to eradicate notoriously unhygienic practices during the feast.

“Education is a must,” said Yenimahalle Mayor Ahmet Duyar, one of the pioneers of the training programmes. “Unlicensed butchers are absolutely banned from slaughtering in our district.”

The often messy butchering of animals in public -- on streets, parks or roadsides -- has sparked mounting public outcry in Turkey in recent years, prompting the authorities to organise specially equipped facilities for the sacrificial ritual.

Pools of blood staining pavements or sheep carcasses hanging from power poles along motorways have become commonplace during Eid-ul-Adha, when animals due for slaughter often run amok, disrupting traffic and mobilising the police.

In addition, hundreds of amateur butchers end up in hospital each year, cutting themselves or having their noses or limbs broken by the unruly animals.—AFP