CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has dismissed a petition seeking a ban on the slaughtering of goats and cattle in meat shops.
The plea was filed by S Muralidharan, founder of the Indian Centre for Animal Rights - Education, alleging that the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act were being violated in meat shops functioning within the limits of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC).
The petitioner contended that, under the statutory framework, slaughter of goats, cattle, and poultry must be carried out only in designated and licensed premises.
The law further mandates that animals shall not be slaughtered in the sight of other animals; blood must be properly collected and disposed of; only animals certified fit for slaughter by a qualified veterinary practitioner may be slaughtered. It also prohibits the slaughter of diseased animals, the plea noted.
The petitioner alleged that in contravention of these statutory requirements, animals were being slaughtered in the rear portions of meat shops, blood was being discharged directly into drainage channels, and the waste was being indiscriminately dumped in garbage bins, thereby causing environmental degradation.
A direction was therefore sought to compel the Corporation to strictly enforce the provisions of the animal welfare and food safety laws.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice MM Shrivastava and Justice R Suresh Kumar dismissed the petition, observing that the plea had been filed vaguely without specifying any particular establishment where such violations were alleged to have occurred.