Lack of Veterinary Care

It is evident from our announced and unannounced visits that animal welfare is not of even the slightest concern to veterinarians at Deonar. When questioned about animal welfare issues, the veterinarians were repeatedly caught in lies and contradictions. This lack of responsibility is harmful not only to animals but also to human health since the eating of diseased and infected animals has serious health consequences for consumers.

According to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, a valid certificate by a qualified veterinary surgeon to the effect that cattle are in a fit condition to travel by [rail or] road and are not suffering from any infectious or contagious or parasitic diseases and that they have been vaccinated against rinderpest and other infectious or contagious or parasitic diseases must accompany each consignment and be carried by the vehicle driver. In the absence of such a certificate, the carrier is to refuse to accept the consignment for transport. Veterinary first-aid equipment is also to accompany all shipments of cattle. Despite these laws, the lorry drivers carry no such documentation or equipment, nor are they ever asked to provide it by the Deonar veterinarians.

During PETA's announced visit with WSPA, HSA and the CLE, Deonar veterinarians claimed that all welfare issues are the responsibility of the traders, not the veterinarians or the municipality and that records regarding injured animals arriving at the slaughterhouse are not kept. The veterinarians admitted that animals are not treated for injuries and wounds.

As mentioned in section VII, during PETA's most recent visit to the abattoir in December 2000, the investigator noticed 10 severely injured or diseased animals on carts waiting to be killed. Dr Chavarkar informed the investigator that these animals were being killed for meat to be sold. It is, therefore, clear that there was no veterinary inspection conducted other than the one deeming the animals unproductive for milk and draught, and that these wounded animals were not rejected from being killed for meat.

After slaughter, WSPA noted that stamped carcasses were carelessly handled by numerous ungloved butchers and wholesalers and placed into despatch vehicles, many of which are unrefrigerated. WSPA further noted that although all animals entering the slaughterhouse are supposed to undergo ante-mortem inspection, the veterinarian or his or her equivalent was never introduced nor was there any evidence of ante-mortem inspection.

Lack of Respect for Halal Requirements

Certain criteria must be met to satisfy the requirements of halal slaughter. The person who slaughters the animals must be of the Muslim faith, and at the time of slaughter, the butcher must evoke the name of Allah. The animal should face toward Mecca, and the instrument used to slaughter the animal must be extremely sharp. The esophagus, trachea, jugular vein and carotid arteries must all be severed to enable blood to flow immediately. The spinal cord must not be cut nor the head severed. While butchers at Deonar meet a few of these criteria, they fail to sharpen and clean their knives after each animal (there was no appropriate sterilisation agent present, only water); perform slaughter with a dulled instrument; cast the animal before sharpening their knives, if they sharpened the knife at all; slaughter animals in the presence of other animals; fail to direct the animals toward Mecca (the animals all face different directions during slaughter); fail to evoke the name of Allah; and fail to adhere to a cutting standard (WSPA noted the cutting procedure was different for each animal slaughtered; PETA observed there was often an unnecessary delay before a second cut was made if the first cut was considered inadequate).

Cruelty inflicted on the animals prior to slaughter at Deonar also violates Islamic law. The late Imam B.A. Hafiz al-Masri stated, 'If animals have been subjected to cruelties in their breeding, transport, slaughter or in their general welfare, meat from them is considered impure and unlawful to eat (haram). The flesh of animals killed by cruel methods is carrion. Even if these animals have been slaughtered in the strictest manner, if cruelties were inflicted on them otherwise, their flesh is still forbidden [haram] food.'

A hadith reported by Muslim states, '[W]hen you must kill a living being, do it in the proper way—when you slaughter an animal, use the best method and sharpen your knife to cause as little pain as possible.' When he saw a man sharpening his knife in the presence of the animal he was to kill, the Prophet said, 'Do you intend inflicting death on the animal twice—once by sharpening the knife within his sight, and once by cutting his throat?'

Misunderstanding of Stunning Techniques and Application

Experts agree that the implementation of proper stunning techniques performed outside the view of animals waiting to be slaughtered would decrease the suffering animals endure when killed at Deonar. The Deonar management claims, however, that the practice of stunning is against the teachings of Islam, which is not the case. Stunning is currently successfully employed in true halal slaughterhouses in the Middle East, America, Europe, Australia, India and elsewhere.

In a letter to the Muslim Law Board, Mr Mohamed Hashim, chair of the CLE states, 'In the Middle East and Western countries, stunning is a common practice, accepted by Islamic authorities ... We would like to see this practice adopted. ..."