Animal lovers who have no problem with the sale and export of meat of other animals should not be opposing it in the case of dogs alone, says K.R. Jayakumar.
It’s illegal, say activists. We will go for it, say Panchayat presidents
Animal rights activists are incensed over the idea of exporting dog meat as a one-stop measure for curbing the State’s stray dog population. They say it is illegal to do so. But the Ernakulam District Grama Panchayats Presidents’ Association, which had suggested that street dogs be exported to places like the north-eastern States, South Korea and China, where dog meat is consumed, is not backing off yet.
Highlighting the illegality of the resolution, N.G. Jayasimha, a member of the Animal Welfare Board of India, has written to M.K. Muneer, the State Minister for Panchayats and Social Welfare, seeking to advice the local bodies to implement animal birth control activities than resorting to “illegal, unscientific and illogical ideas such as trade in dog meat.”
The idea of exporting dog meat and/or establishing dog farms for the purpose of export or domestic consumption is entirely illegal. The Meat and Meat Products Order, 1973, has prescribed that ovines (sheep), caprines (goats) suillines (pigs) and bovines (cattle) and poultry shall be slaughtered for meat.
No license can be issued to manufacture meat which does not belong to the animals specified in the legislation, he said.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has expressly prohibited slaughtering of animals, except the ovines, caprines, suillines, bovines and poultry, he said.
‘Not an odd proposal’
The local body heads, however, are not convinced there is anything wrong with their ‘dog for meat’ proposal, and claim it has statewide backing, from other panchayats too.
The proposal unanimously passed by panchayat presidents in Ernakulam found resonance at the association’s State level meet held at Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.
“It received good response from local body heads from across the State since an urgent solution to the stray dog menace needs to be found. We would place the proposal before the State government,” P.K. Chandrasekharan Nair, vice-president of Ernakulam district association, who moved the proposal, told The Hindu .
K.R. Jayakumar, who initially moved the proposal at the district association meeting said that it was for the Central and State governments to put their heads together to remove the legal hurdles in implementing it. He said that local bodies with their hands tied on tackling the issue of stray dogs in the face of court orders and belligerent animal lovers are at their wits end.
“Dog meat is in demand in countries like the Philippines and China and is even consumed within the country in the northeast. Animal lovers who have no problem with the sale and export of meat of other animals should not be opposing it in the case of dogs alone,” Mr. Jayakumar said.
Birth control not practical
The idea of animal birth control is not practical for two reasons: it’s costly, and there is the possibility of stiff opposition from local people against releasing back sterilised dogs caught from their areas, Mr. Jayakumar said.
Besides, sterilisation of stray dogs could lead to imbalance between local and pedigreed breeds in the long run, according to him.
M.A.M. Muneer, Edathala panchayat president, who had seconded the proposal at the Ernakulam district meet, said that it may even spur dog farming on an industrial scale just as in the case of poultry and cattle. “We stand firm by the proposal no matter what the consequences may be,” he said.
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