People buying sacrificial sheep at the Abu Hamour livestock market for Eid Al Adha. (Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula)
DOHA: The Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME), represented by the municipalities’ health motioning units, is running a campaign to stop sacrificing animals out of slaughterhouses during Eid Al Adha to ensure the safety of meat.
The Ministry has warned people in a number of posts shared on its social networking accounts against hiring vendors for sacrificing animals because it is difficult to confirm whether they are fit for human consumption or not.
Sacrificing animals inside abattoirs is safer compared to those being slaughtered outside such as homes and other places because the services of veterinary doctors to inspect the animals before and after slaughtering are available only at slaughterhouses.
The inspectors have also been instructed to visit residential areas to stop slaughtering animals outside abattoirs, said the Ministry in a statement.
Mobile abattoirs will be available at places and the number of workers for sacrificing and potters have been increased to reduce the waiting time.
Health Monitoring Unit at Al Shahaniya Municipality has prepared a work schedule of veterinary doctors at mobile abattoirs and extended the working hours of the inspectors during Eid Al Adha.
The Municipality has also instructed the inspectors to ensure that the animals to be sacrificed under supervision of veterinary doctors at abattoirs.
The Al Daayin Municipality has distributed pamphlets to educate people about sacrificing animals only inside slaughterhouses during Eid Al Adha.
“It is necessary to check the meat of sacrificial animals to ensure they are free from any infectious diseases and fit for human consumption,” Abu Abdullah, an expert from a meat company, told The Peninsula.
He said that only food specialists like veterinary doctors can say whether meat of sacrificial animals is fit for human consumption or not therefore the Ministry of Municipality and Environment deployed veterinary doctors at the slaughterhouses operating across the country.
The campaign of the Ministry is getting good response from the people, the consumers told The Peninsula. They said that cutting waiting time at slaughterhouses encouraged people to get their sacrificial animals slaughtered in designated abattoirs.
“We had been sacrificing sheep at home for many years to avoid huge rush at the slaughterhouse, but last year we got our animals slaughtered at a slaughterhouse run by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment at Abu Hamour Central Market,” said Nasiruddin Abbas, a Pakistani national.
Abbas said that the management of the abattoirs had taken adequate measures to control the crowd and launched a new token system to serve the customers on first come first serve basis.
“In addition, I came to know that it is safer to get animals at the abattoirs, therefore I preferred slaughterhouse over home,” said Abbas.
