"A Slap in the Face to Conscientious Consumers", Says Group.
For Immediate Release:
July 27, 2000
Contact:
Jason Baker 98201 22561, JasonB@peta-online.org
KUALA LUMPUR –– The announcement on Wednesday by the Malaysian Islamic Advancement Department (Jakim) and the Veterinary Services Department (VSD) that meat imported into Malaysia from India is halal is "incredibly dishonest and a slap in the face to conscientious consumers", according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) president Ingrid Newkirk. Newkirk held a news conference in Kuala Lumpur last week to release "Forbidden Flesh", a video short showing the abuse of cattle prior to their arrival at the export slaughterhouses.
PETA contends that the government's new statement contradicts what representatives of the Veterinary Services Department, including its chief, Dr. Matta Abdul Rahman, and senior veterinary officer, Dr. Hj. Muhmad Kamarulzaman bin Muhmad Sarif, told Newkirk and other PETA representatives in private. The DVS agreed that evidence of cruel transport of animals prior to slaughter, including the deliberate breaking of their tail bones and the introduction of hot chili peppers and tobacco into their eyes, as well as severe overcrowding on the lorries that results in crushed limbs and suffocation, was of concern and would be investigated thoroughly, given that the Malaysian government's own rules for halal meat appear to be violated.
However, Newkirk said, the Jakim director, Mr. Mohamed Jusoh, was extremely dismissive and insulting during their meeting last week and made it clear that he had no interest whatsoever in examining PETA's evidence. "For a government official to greet an international delegation with contempt indicates that the Jakim had already decided there was too much at stake for them to hear of problems"., said Newkirk. PETA representatives were also kept waiting for almost three hours for a scheduled meeting with the department director, Hj. Mustafa bin Adb Rahman.
PETA learned that the two departments had always limited inspections to conditions in the holding pens (lairage) within the abattoirs and on the killing floor. However, as the government well knows, slaughter conditions themselves have never been at issue: PETA has said all along that the four export slaughterhouses appear to kill animals according to halal protocol and have welcomed PETA representatives to inspect at any time without prior announcement. "That the government is trying to deflect attention to the slaughterhouses while ignoring undeniable animal abuse outside their gates is dishonest", Newkirk said. "The government is doing a disservice to consumers and will succeed only in undermining confidence in its own objectivity".
PETA draws attention to the Malaysian government's own regulations for imported meat, which recognize that, in Section 5.1 et. seq. entitled "Pre-slaughter Conditions for Animals/Poultry," according to Islamic religious law, "All animals must be ... free from any signs of wounds ... or any form of disfigurement", "Animals and poultry shall be treated in a humane manner prior to slaughter. Any ill-treatment, beating, acts that may cause stress or fear are strictly forbidden..."; and "Any act of injury or cutting is prohibited on animals prior to slaughter". PETA believes Muslims worldwide have a right to be told the whole truth about the origin of meat they may purchase on faith. Says Newkirk, "Islamic scholars we have consulted tell us that, while it is acceptable to eat meat from an animal who has fallen and broken a leg and is then killed according to halal methods, it is absolutely haram to deliberately inflict injury and pain on any cattle and then to pass the meat off as halal because the slaughter itself is carried out in a halal manner.
