Government has expressed concern over a donkey abattoir being built by Battlefront Investments in Umguza. Government which gave the company the green-light sent Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Deputy Minister responsible for Livestock, Paddy Zhanda to tour the facility and get assurance that the donkey meat will not be sold in Zimbabwe.
National co-coordinator of the police anti stock theft Senior Assistant Commissioner Erasmus Makodza said that farmers had expressed concern that there will be a rise in donkey thefts in the area. Said Zhanda:
There is a lobby group that is totally against this abattoir and Government’s position is that donkey meat cannot be consumed in Zimbabwe. We therefore want assurance that this donkey meat will not find its way into local butcheries. We therefore have an obligation to put measures in place to ensure donkey meat is not sold in local butcheries.
Yesterday’s visit by Zhanda and his delegation to the abattoir comes a week after a joint statement by Aware Trust Zimbabwe, Veterinarians for Animal Welfare Zimbabwe, Lupane Youth for Development Trust, the Zimbabwe National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Spana criticised the planned slaughter of donkeys for commercial purposes.The abattoir will be the first in Zimbabwe and will have the capacity to dress more than 70 animals a day.
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