Meat eating becoming a hazard in Jalandhar

Residents of Jalandhar are in danger of being exposed to diseases because of unregulated meat production, in the absence of any government-run slaughterhouse.

Though the local municipal corporation subjects the thousands of animals that arrive for slaughter to octroi, the civil body has not done even a bit to regulate meat production.

Jalandhar has about 350-400 meat shops, where thousands of animals were slaughtered daily without mandatory ante-mortem and postmortem examination by qualified veterinary surgeons.

The corporation had abandoned its Sant Nagar slaughter house about 20-25 years ago, and since then, it used to regulate meat production and subject meat products to examination at meat shops themselves through officials and veterinary surgeons.

But this practice too had been discontinued about 10 years ago, leaving the residents not only exposed to unauthenticated meat products but also at the mercy of either butchers or those running meat shops.

The corporation also closed its veterinary dispensary in 2002, for which, pet lovers were forced to go to either pet clinics run by the Punjab veterinary department, or private pet clinics.

"Meat of unauthenticated origin can be unhealthy to the extent that it could cause infection and disease. Since one doesn't know anything about its quality or storage period, one is vulnerable to some disease. So we have no alternative but to either stop consuming non-vegetarian food or purchase whatever is handed over to us," said Thomas Mathew, a resident.

Residents question the moral authority of the corporation to collect octroi, running into lakhs of rupees every month, when it is not providing basic facilities like a slaughterhouse.

When contacted, Satwant Singh Johal, commissioner of the municipal corporation, said the responsibility of examining the animals was of the health authorities, but enquiries had revealed they could only check cooked or processed meat products and not animals meant for slaughtering.

Official sources say the practice of stamping slaughter animals is also not being carried because of the lack of veterinary surgeons.