PFA seals illegal slaughterhouse in Bakar Mandi

Food watchdog team seize a huge quantity of inferior quality meat of emaciated animals

LAHORE: The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) has seized over 1,500 kilogrammes of unwholesome meat and registered an FIR against the butchers involved in illegal slaughtering of the animals.

The PFA food safety team and vigilance cell officials sealed an illegal slaughterhouse in Bakar Mandi area and seized a huge quantity of inferior quality meat of emaciated animals, which was later burnt in the furnace of Punjab Agriculture and Meat Company.

On the direction of PFA Director General Captain (retd) Muhammad Usman, PFA officials registered a case with police, however, the accused involved in this heinous business managed to escape from the scene.

Usman said substandard and inferior quality meat was supplied to the local shops located in the surrounding areas of Lahore after slaughtering emaciated animals. He said the raiding team also found the slaughterhouse in pretty unhygienic condition. An abundance of creepy crawlies and insects, the presence of cats and a heap of offal and filth of animals were found there. He highlighted that the authority was strictly monitoring these areas which fall into the red zone category owing to received repeated complaints.

The authority had also declared Bakar Mandi area as the red zone due to the presence of illegal slaughterhouses. As many as 60,000 kilogrammes of substandard meat was discarded by the PFA in the last two months. The provincial food watchdog had accelerated crackdown against the butchers who were running an illegal slaughterhouse.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, a citizen Muhammad Asif said butchers were openly doing illegal slaughtering in Township area but neither the PFA nor the livestock department took any action against these illegal practices. He indicated that butchers were slaughtering animals at various points on main Abubakar Road near Barkat Chowk and Block-6 Chowk, especially on Sundays.

He said illegal slaughtering on the roadside was a reason behind the spread of different diseases in the areas as the butchers hardly ensure cleanliness of the space after slaughtering the animals. He demanded the food watchdog and the government agencies concerned to look into this issue as local of the area had complained on numerous times but in vain.