PESHAWAR, Oct 14: Slaughtering of under-age buffaloes and cows is creating shortage of cattle, besides depriving the people of the cheapest and badly-needed proteins, veterinary officers told Dawn on Monday.

“Mass slaughtering of the under-age buffalo and cow calves continue unabated while nobody is prepared to take any action. The butchers even slaughter calves born of few days whereas the slaughtering of the calf below the age of two years is strictly forbidden under the slaughter control act of 1963,” said a veterinary officer.

Some two years back, the government changed the law and the butchers were asked to slaughter the animals which have at least 80kg weight, as it was difficult to determine the age of the animal at the slaughter house. But still the weight of the calves which are being slaughtered is hardly 20kg, he said.

According to him, the butchers buy these calves from the traders at very low price and sell it in the market for more profit. The traders who bring the buffaloes and cows from Punjab sell the calves in order to obtain more milk from the animals. The experts suggest that only two-year-old healthy animals be slaughtered.

The calf usually takes the milk as a food from their mothers which minimise the commodity and therefore the traders sell the calf to the butchers upon Rs 300 to 400. The butchers then sell the meat at Rs 70 per kg against Rs 50 the normal price of meat, as the buyers consider the calf meat equivalent to mutton.

According to the veterinary experts, the calf meat is tasteless because it doesn’t contain protein which can be found abundantly in buffalo or cow meat.