Following complaints of unwholesome meat from illegal slaughterhouses making its way to retail outlets, the Food Safety Department has started raids on illegal slaughterhouses in the city.
On Sunday, officials identified a slaughter house in Triplicane where 70 animals had been illegally slaughtered. “They slaughtered the animals in unhygienic conditions. We seized the contaminated meat and disposed it in the Kodungaiyur dumpyard. We will continue raids in other areas,” said R. Kathiravan, Designated Officer, Food Safety Department, Chennai.
“We received complaints from residents that hundreds of animals were being illegally slaughtered in a house in a residential area. When we checked the area at night, all the houses were closed. We were able to identify the house with the support of police. The raids were conducted from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.,” said an official.
Even as the butchers resisted, officials with the aid of the police removed the rotting carcasses from the house on Elephant Tank Second Street, Ice House, on Sunday. Meat weighing 405kg was seized.
Infected carcasses
The animal carcasses were all infected. According to officials, the slaughter used to begin at 12.30 a.m. and retailers took the meat at 4 a.m. “As the meat was being processed in very unhygienic conditions at night, it was likely to be contaminated and the consumer would have certainly got rotten meat by the time they bought it in the morning,” said an official.
A team of food safety officers comprising Sathasivam, Rajapandi, Chandrasekaran, Loganathan, Sundarrajan and Mani Murugan conducted the raids. “We will issue a notice to the owner of the illegal slaughterhouse under Section 58 of the Food Safety and Standards Act. Residents may send complaints on illegal slaughterhouses to the food safety department at the WhatsApp number 9444042322,” said an official.
The department has issued licences to two slaughterhouses in Saidapet and Villivakkam. The large slaughterhouse in Perambur, managed by the Chennai Corporation, is yet to get a licence from the Central government. The conditions in the Perambur slaughterhouse are also unhygienic, officials said. Over 2,000 animals are slaughtered in Perambur every day in the presence of veterinary officers of the Chennai Corporation. But this slaughterhouse also supplies unwholesome meat, officials add.
