General Information

Deonar is a municipally owned abattoir within the city limits of Mumbai. The general manager is Dr V. N. Vishnupurikar. There are a reported 1,400 general employees and 18 veterinarians on site, including Dr Hukkeri and Dr Chavarkar, two employees in managerial posts.

Deonar exists on a 64-acre site built in the early 1970s. It consists of an unloading area, a market area, animal-holding areas and slaughterhouses. The abattoir's business is to slaughter animals on behalf of the city's meat wholesalers and butchers. The Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA) sends inspectors to Deonar for several hours nearly everyday. Individual traders not employed by the municipality, are permitted to bring animals to the market area, sell and purchase them for slaughter. A Jewish butcher, also not employed by Deonar, is permitted to slaughter on the grounds as well. The abattoir also exports meat to the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar, as well as to other countries.

Approximately 500 to 600 cattle, 200 pigs and 5,000 to 6,000 sheep and goats are killed each day at Deonar.

Meat and Leather General Statistical Information

According to statistics compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the total number of animals slaughtered for meat in India rose from 66,299,600 head in 1980 to 106,239,000 head in 2000, nearly doubling. This translated to an increase in total meat production from 2,607,702 (Mt) in 1980 to 4,809,200 (Mt) in 2000. There was a rise in the total number of cows and buffaloes slaughtered for meat in India from 15,644,000 head in 1980 to 24,300,000 head in 2000, an increase in total beef and buffalo meat production of 1,673,972 in 1980 to 2,863,400 in 2000.

According to 1999 figures from the CLE, leather sector exports earn some US$1.5 billion worth of foreign exchange per annum, mostly from industrialised countries. Top importers of Indian leather goods are Germany, the US, Italy and the UK according to DGCIS Calcutta. The leather industry handles 230 million hides and skins annually.

Section Conclusion

The local and federal governments have the clout, and the Indian industries have the resources, to ensure that animals going to slaughter and at slaughter are treated humanely in accordance with the law. Only the CLE has made any effort in this regard. To date, no changes have come about in training, infrastructure, law enforcement or other areas of serious, daily violations of any reasonable standards.