PETA slaughters treatment of cattle at Deonar abbatoir

The video includes excerpts of footage shot undercover in April 1999, December 2000 and during an announced visit to the Deonar abattoir in July 2000. Observations of indiscriminate beating around the rump, neck and face of cattle were made. Despite open wounds such as bloody or missing eyes, nose bleeds, broken horns and injuries sustained during an overcrowded and rough transport, the veterinarians present ignored the animals. PETA also claims that no one from the Bombay SPCA was present at any time.

Colonel Nautiyal from the Bombay SPCA when contacted said that their inspectors were always around the check-nakas. “If we find cases of overcrowding and/or cruelty, our inspectors chargesheet the offender. But beyond that, there’s little we can do because outside Mumbai we do not have any jurisdiction.” While he agrees that cruelty may be taking place at Deonar, their inspectors have never witnessed it and being a charitable organisation whose concerns include other animal issues, it is very difficult to keep track of everything happening at Deonar.

PETA have also accused the veterinarians of having no concept of “emergency slaughter” or mercy killing. The normal practice was to leave injured animals in the market until they were purchased for slaughter or died in pain. Nor were stunning techniques, making the animal unconscious and hence reducing its suffering, used at Deonar. The animals were killed in front of each other with no knowledge of how the cut had to be made, resulting in an animal being conscious even after 70 seconds of being knifed when all it took was 14 seconds for the animal to lose consciousness.

PETA has met with the top officials of the city, including V Ranganathan, the municipal commissioner and Hareshwar Patil, the mayor, urging them to take corrective steps but the law has been flouted at all counts.

Unfortunately, while the story is cruel and inhuman, it is neither new nor does the situation show any signs of transformation. PETA claims that of the six export-level slaughterhouses in India, the conditions in Deonar are the worst. Others claim that the conditions in Deonar are better than those prevailing in illegal abattoirs in the bylanes of the city and its suburbs.

PETA has demanded the immediate closure of the Deonar abattoir. Most of the meat consumed by the city comes from this abattoir. While the conditions in Deonar are appalling, its closure would only mean the further proliferation of illegal abattoirs that have no regard for any safety, hygiene or ethical standards, whatsoever.After all the slaughterhouses exist because there is a demand for meat. PETA acknowledges that the root of the problem is not making animal killing more ethical but changing the lifestyles of people and convincing them of vegetarianism. Difficult to preach and even more difficult to practice when some of their own members are not vegetarians!