Days after the discovery of a large shipment of meat at the Egmore Railway Station in Chennai, the NGO People for Cattle in India moved the court seeking guidelines on the transportation of meat.
According to one report in the Times of India, the NGO has slammed the Food Safety Department for not releasing a report on 2,190 kilograms of meat that had been found. People for Cattle in India also sought the framing of guidelines on transportation of ‘items meant for human consumption.’
The NGO also raised doubts on whether the sub-par meat would have been supplied to the end user, had it not been for the seizure.
Calling for an adjudicator to determine the type of meat that was seized, the NGO also requested that the meat be disposed of scientifically, without harm to the environment.
On Saturday, the Railway Police Force and the Food Safety Department in Chennai discovered 20 thermocol boxes containing what was suspected to be dog meat at the Egmore Railway Station.
Speaking to TNM, Dr R Kathiravan of the Food Safety Department said that the cargo was not in cold storage as it ought to have been.
Owing to a jurisdictional overlap, the Food Safety Department had asked the Railway Police Force for details on the consignment. The Food Safety officials are examining whether it is goat or dog meat since there are some anatomical differences. Two whole animal samples were sent to the Meat Sciences Department at the Madras Veterinary College in Vepery, Chennai. Meanwhile, tests are yet to determine whether the consginment contained dog or goat meat.
The Food Safety Department also cautioned that the meat trade had to regulated, asking why such a large quantity of meat was transported under such conditions.
Source: The News Minute