Centre urged to close illegal meat markets

TNN | Mar 30, 2020, 07.09 PM IST

CHENNAI: Five national animal protection organisations have written a joint letter to Union minister of health & family welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan, urging him to close illegal meat markets as well as unlicensed wildlife and pet markets. They also requested him to regulate the animal production industry.

The letter from People for Animals (PFA), Humane Society International/India (HSI/India), Mercy for Animals India Foundation (MFA), Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) and Ahimsa Trust describes the cramped and unhygienic conditions in which animals are raised or slaughtered and sold for food or as pets.

In the letter, they urged the government to undertake immediate action on the markets as they do not follow food safety guidelines (FSSAI guidelines) to prevent the emergence of novel diseases and spread of the current corona crisis. The outbreak of Covid-19 is said to have emerged from a meat and wildlife market in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.

“Increase in industrial slaughter and factory farming of animals, the unchecked trade in wildlife and crowding of various species of animals in close confinement has been an invitation to deadly epidemics. The connection is unmistakable,” said Gauri Maulekhi, Trustee, PfA. “Let’s learn from our mistakes. We are hopeful that the ministry of health undertakes the suggested measures to rectify this crisis and safeguard this country’s health.”