TEAM HERALD
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
PANJIM: In an affidavit filed before the High Court, Goa Meat Complex Limited has denied any allegations of carrying out uncertified cow slaughter, even as it said that more than 60 per cent of the state’s population consume beef.
The court has lifted the blanket ban on slaughter, which it had earlier temporarily imposed, but disallowed the slaughter of cattle from outside the state. The petition which had accused the Goa Meat Complex of killing underage animals continues to be heard by the High Court.
“On a daily basis, at present about 70 to 80 cattle are slaughtered (at Goa Meat Complex). About 60 per cent of the population of Goa is beef eating (sic),” the affidavit reads.
The affidavit mentions that the Goa Meat Complex does not slaughter cows, which is banned as per the law, and that it was slaughtering only those animals which were certified by the competent authority under the Goa Animal Preservation Act, to be fit for slaughter.
The High Court bench has asked Goa Meat Complex to support their claim about the percentage of beef eating population by submitting statistics.
The Goa Meat Complex while presenting a case for restarting of the government-owned slaughter house, claimed that a large number of foreign tourists who come to Goa are also beef eaters and that the demand for beef is very high in the state.
