TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Stocks of fresh beef have finally hit the counters of butchers in various towns of the State with the Goa Meat Complex bringing in around 36 slaughtered animals through its special insulated vehicles.
Speaking to Herald, Lyndon Monteiro, chairman of Goa Meat Complex confirmed that beef arrived in the State Wednesday morning, but clarified that the meat complex was only transporting the meat for the traders.
“The traders are buying the meat and selling it. We are only transporting it,” Monteiro said.
He added that the number of animals and quantity of beef being brought in the State was likely to go up as the days go by and demand for the red meat once again picks up.
“Tomorrow we should bring in 40 animals,” Monteiro said.
At the counters, meanwhile the sale of beef was brisk with traders happy that they are back in the business.
Availability of beef had become an issue after the High Court temporarily banned the slaughter of animals at the Goa Meat Complex based on a petition by the Govansh Raksha Abhiyan, which alleged large-scale irregularities and animal rights abuses taking place at the Goa Meat Complex including unhygienic conditions of animal slaughter.
The court later lifted the ban, and allowed supervised slaughter but banned the slaughter of animals from outside the State at the Goa Meat Complex. This clause however meant that slaughter did not restart at the Goa Meat Complex as traders said that there are no animals available within Goa for the purpose of slaughter.
