The district coordination officer (DCO) Naseem Sadiq has launched a campaign to curb the sale of substandard and unhygienic meat in the district following an outbreak of gastric diseases in Chak 35-RB in the last week. Doctors said that the cause of the outbreak was the sale of donkey and dog meat at several meat shops in the area.
A total of fifteen butchers were booked in four days by raiding teams of the Health Department in this regard and two were sent behind bars. “We have arrested the two store owners who have been selling donkey meat. They also admitted to selling dog meat,” said Health Department official Karamat Shah.
“The men said that few people were able to tell the difference between the meat and that it was sold much cheaper,” he said.
Over 30 people were admitted to the DHQ hospital as well as Allied Hospital after they experienced vomiting and other gastric symptoms following the consumption of the meat. “The patients are suffering because they are not used to such meat. We have tested samples of the meat from the shops and the samples tested as dog and donkey meat,” said lab attendant Mubashar. A Livestock Department official Haider Shah said that the DCO had launched a vigorous campaign to arrest the culprits and health department officials were checking all meat shops in the area. Raids have been conducted in various parts of the district and 15 butchers were booked for selling substandard and water-fed meat.
“Two butchers have been arrested for selling donkey and dog to store owners. One of the regular buyers is a restaurant owner and we have taken him into custody as well,” Shah said.
The raiding teams got cases registered against them while further action is under progress. DCO Sadiq has ordered that the meat at all the shops be confiscated and sent for testing. Raid officers confiscated over 100 kilograms of meat on Friday and Thursday and destroyed the entire stock.
Livestock district officer (DO) Dr Abdur Rehman said that the patients at Allied Hospital had identified two butchers who had been selling the donkey meat in the district. “When we began questioning patients we realised that most of them bought meat from two shops in Chak 34-RB and nearly all the patients belonged from this area,” said Rehman. “Upon investigation we discovered that they were being fed dog and donkey meat,” he added.
A team of veterinary doctors has also been deployed to test the meat samples and check the quality of stock at different markets. “Most people build an immunity to slightly old or water-fed meat but nearly anyone being fed donkey or dog meat is likely to have a reaction,” said veterinary doctor Dr Asif Butt.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 17th, 2011.
COMMENTS (31)
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@Raj: Dear brotherly neighbour Raj, as a blossom sends forth its fragrance, may our love become all-embracing and inspiring. Before some weeks as I just stood in front of my shop an aged man dressed in orange colour clothes (even his cap, socks, sandals and the bag under his arm were orange) suddenly stood in front of me as if he was there to visit me. My heart was so amused as if someone from my family visiting me. This serene soul was Swami Yogananda, 103 years of age, who was invited to attend the Yoga festival in Berlin. And before he left Berlin back to India he visited me several times. I smilingly said to him, Swamiji sara sansar apke darshan keliye lakhon ropee harch karke india jata he aur mamatma ne aapko mere samne la khara kiya......The secret of his long and such healthy and vital life he explained, that the initial 51 years of his life he lived only from fruits and we all humans should care for what we put in our stomachs and live a vegetarian life. Next time when he comes to Berlin, I would love to have him as my guest.
Slaughtering the innocent animals and eating their meat is the most unaesthetic part of human culture. Consumption of prepared bread or cooked meat of different animals is a "learned behaviour" in the course of human evolution. Grain of all kinds is very mucilaginous. It irritates the intestinal lining and the stomach and is highly acid forming. It is involved in diabetes, because it goes quickly into the blood. The deceases associated with meat consumption are as high as with smoking of tobacco.
Whenever, these kinds of news come out the apologists try to justify that it happens in the other countries too. Yes, people do eat all kinds of animals, but they do not “switch” meats or adulterate with wrong stuff. It is a personal choice if somebody eats snake, dog, cat or monkey as long as they know what they are eating. It is the fraudulent nature of the issue that is the problem. One well known example of this is famous syrup “Rohe Afza”. It used to say on the label with the picture of fruits “taza phalon ke rus se” (made from fresh fruit juices). However, in the US one has to give full list of ingredients and there was no fruit juice in that syrup at all, so they had to take those words out. I don’t know whether in Pakistan they are still using that deceptive trick or not? This was going on for well over half a century in Pakistan and this was the number one syrup especially in Ramadan. I am surprised that this corruption which is in the basic fiber of Pakistan was not attributed to foreign conspiracy? I remember when NS, IK and other rightwing elements were demanding the restoration of SC CJ with the slogans that it would take care of all the problems, we used to laugh. How can one person make me not to add water in the milk, not make fake baby formula, not extract fat and oil from dead animals, not parade women naked in the streets, etc? We are corrupt to the core and unless we stop doing these things no govt can improve our plight. We are sitting and waiting for somebody from the top to come and change us, but we are not doing anything ourselves, except offering excuses.
@Anwar: What are you talking about- meat from other sources is often passed off as beef, lamb or goat in many other countries too. Ever hear about restaurants in North America charged after an undercover investigation found out they were serving cat meat ! You should see the world a little more and see that human beings are often victims of many scams all over the world. As for donkey and dog meat, it's considered desirable meat in some parts of the Orient. Our Uzbek friends regularly give us cold meats made from horse and donkey.
Among the unpublished stories from massacre of East Pakistan in 1971, there is one about sale of human meat as food for human consumption. Pakistanis have begun selling dog and donkey meat already. After stray dogs and incapacitated animals, human meat could still come out cheaper than cows, lambs, goats or chicken. Money-making is halal you know.
Corruption bazar. Only low life subhuman sickooos would prey on people like this.
This is very bad and atleast we all are muslims we should have halal food and thats our right if anyone tries to sell us haram foods like donkeys etc he will definately go to hell for this kind of crime and what ever things are made halal for us by Allah we should consume all because god has given benifits in all halal stuff.
.....And yet we will not stop eating meat. We are a nation of meat addicts. I think we deserve this.
Please dont eat meat in Pakistan.! There is any thing happen because we are corrupt Muslim state. hope Pepole take care thereself rather depend on govt ensure better food.
Hot dog yummi.
Whats the dufference?????? In Afrika, their are specialist restaurants serving game meat e.g Elephant, Giraffe, Crocodile and other exotic animals. Our chinese brothers have an appetite for snakes, dogs, cats and frogs and mice as well. Well after all meat is meat, whats the difference!!!
Donkey is the same as horse meat; both animals can interbreed, which is how mules are born. Horseflesh is highly nutritious, and so is donkey. Both are prized in Europe, Italy for example. You will never find equines greedily relishing human excrement, as bovines do. Those with rural backgrounds will remember that their daily morning interlude to the MAIDAN often was rudely interrupted by grazing cattle & bulls. You cannot argue with an animal many times your weight eager for a hot breakfast.
Even deer voraciously devour dead, putrefying carcasses of deer & other animals to supplement their diet. Verify this with credible wildlife biologists who have actually witnessed such events; most Pakistani "experts" rely on comfortable armchairs, wife's cooking & hearsay.
But equines never fall into the impure behavior common to bovines & cervines. So, if you have no issues consuming cattle or deer, why cavil at donkey or horse?
AND, your "higher than Himalayas" "forever & bestest" friends, and saviors love dogs! How can they be wrong! they are your current Deities, like the USA was in the 1950s!! Since you love them so much, why prosecute those poor butchers who thought they should emulate their beloved ally? Monkey see, monkey do. These are illiterate folks, guys, they see jigri dost messing with bestest bums, flying bestest jangi planes, so how can they be blamed for copying & serving up bestest, joshila gosht?
@Raj: I think you don't know that plants also even feel pain when they are killed. This way man should not eat anything at all, not even veg. Some of things are allowed to eat by Almighty Allah and they are the necessity of human being and hence the teeth and jaw of humans are designed to eat non-veg too and is not meant for veg food only.
Those who are selling wrong things should be checked by Govt. strictly and they will definitely be answerable to God one day for their wrong deeds.
I find in the photo. the whole animal is skinned and hanged as it is by the butcher. But, in India, the inner body parts are removed and then hanged. What could be the difference? The whole animal should also decay and rot faster. Besides, now a days, it is mandatory to place them in enclosed chambers, not exposed outside.
Too many mouths to feed!
Natures law "Survival of the fittest"
well, this is disgusting, in order to make money that's how people play with the lives of others, This clearly states the absence of rules regulation and the writ of the govt, we as a nation infact nowadays used to catch the trouble when it troubles us, not the opposite. at the end of the day its the poor who suffers at the hand of these lunatics...
Not surprising at all, this has been happening all around the country. @Raj; cows, chicken, rabbit, camel, goat etc are all halal meat for Muslims. Dogs and donkey meat are not. Simple as that. There are no ANIMAL RIGHTS issues here LOL, man has been hunting since forever. Stay a veggie if you want to, i love all of that too ;)
Its simply ridiculous.....our monitoring mechanism is so ineffective and business without ethics is becoming common day by day.....;(
pakistanis love a good con and fraud, very typical
@Anwar: Not at all bro come to Turkey you will find examples as well
It's getting harder to understand how people are becoming so selfish in a lot of ways. Commerce without conscience. Selling meat they know isn't safe, I may say, for human consumption. Because of (easy) money, people forget their essence of being human, forget that this may and can happen to their families as well.
Not to mention their cruelty to animals. In this case, to donkeys and dogs. What an I expecting, anyway.. If they don't have the heart for other people, more so with animals?
I hope measures will be implemented for these things. Implemented and followed. The problem with our governments is that more often than not, there's no difference between their mental aptitudes as the dog butchers in this article. Same breed, same dog..
My friend does not eat kebab as he is not sure which meat goes in it. His favourite kebab maker does not eat kebab either. He knows what goes in it.
Go vegetarian.
Instead of spreading such news lash such butchers publicly so no one in future tries it again!!!
@Shireen: How can they be so cruel and disgusting...what about other animals like chickens, goats, lambs and cows...slaughtering chickens, goats, lambs and cows is not cruel and not disgusting....Shireen, please clear your position, are you pro animals
right or anti animalsrights..if you are condemning dogs and donkeys meats, also condemn chickens, goats and cows meat.Only in Pakistan
I'm reacting now puke! Really, this makes me think that vegan diet is way safer! Apart from donkey/dog meat, I've been hearing all sorts of nasty stuff about meat. Like deal animal's meat or butchers pumping the coronary arteries of the slaughtered animal with water so that it would weigh much more, plus the kind of diet and shots these animals receive during their life.
OMG! thats nauseating!!!!!!
This is insane. How can they be so cruel and disgusting. However this is being done in other parts of Pakistan aswell. There should be more regular checks and laws protecting these poor animals. =(