Illegal Cow Slaughter prevalent across India (Part 1): The case of AP High Court closing illegal slaughter houses in Kakinada (AP)

Pictures from an illegal slaughter house at Pithapuram, East Godavari district, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh

Municipal Slaughter House, Pithapuram, East Godavari District (AP, India): Illegal slaughter in India. Pictures © Animal Rescue Org. Kakinada. Used with permission by ‘The Voice of Stray dogs’ (www.strays.in)

Municipal Slaughter House, Pithapuram, East Godavari District (AP, India): Illegal slaughter in India. Pictures © Animal Rescue Org. Kakinada. Used with permission by ‘The Voice of Stray dogs’ (www.strays.in)

Municipal Slaughter House, Pithapuram, East Godavari District (AP, India): Illegal slaughter in India. Pictures © Animal Rescue Org. Kakinada. Used with permission by ‘The Voice of Stray dogs’ (www.strays.in)

Municipal Slaughter House, Pithapuram, East Godavari District (AP, India): Illegal slaughter in India. Pictures © Animal Rescue Org. Kakinada. Used with permission by ‘The Voice of Stray dogs’ (www.strays.in)

Municipal Slaughter House, Pithapuram, East Godavari District (AP, India): Illegal slaughter in India. Pictures © Animal Rescue Org. Kakinada. Used with permission by ‘The Voice of Stray dogs’ (www.strays.in)

Municipal Slaughter House, Pithapuram, East Godavari District (AP, India): Illegal slaughter in India. Pictures © Animal Rescue Org. Kakinada. Used with permission by ‘The Voice of Stray dogs’ (www.strays.in)

Municipal Slaughter House, Pithapuram, East Godavari District (AP, India): Illegal slaughter in India. Pictures © Animal Rescue Org. Kakinada. Used with permission by ‘The Voice of Stray dogs’ (www.strays.in)

These are pictures of two illegal slaughter houses at East Godavari district, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh ; and the third set, is of cows that were being illegally transported for slaughter, also in Andhra Pradesh a few days back, but were mercifully intercepted and seized through the intervention of a very pro-active animal welfare organisation called Animal Rescue Organisation. They are presently in the safe custody of SPCA Kakinada.

These pictures are symptomatic of what is happening all over the country. There are illegal slaughter houses (or those that are licensed or recognized but not following the law) criss-crossing the country; and huge amounts of illegal transportation for slaughter occurring across its length and breadth.

Fact is cow slaughter is so common and prevalent there is a massive litigation involving these subjects pending currently before the Supreme Court, in which the Court’s intervention had originally been sought in a writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, by a gentleman called Lakshmi Narain Modi. He was so anguished at what is occurring, and the fact that municipalities and other local authorities, and law enforcement authorities including the police, are not combating it, that he took it upon himself to try and correct the situation. Since then, other persons and organisations, including PETA, have also filed similar cases, and all of these have been bunched together. They are being heard together, and some note-worthy orders have been passed, and directions issued by the Supreme Court.

WHAT YOU CAN DO about illegal slaughter and illegal transportation for slaughter occurring in your vicinity, and in your state or union territory, based on the directions issued and orders passed and steps taken by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, shall be explained in PART II of this article.

Pictures from an illegal slaughter house at Chodavaram, East Godavari district, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh

Chodavaram village illegal slaughter house East Godavari District (AP, India): Illegal slaughter in India. Pictures © Animal Rescue Org. Kakinada. Used with permission by ‘The Voice of Stray dogs’ (www.strays.in)

Chodavaram village illegal slaughter house East Godavari District (AP, India): Illegal slaughter in India. Pictures © Animal Rescue Org. Kakinada. Used with permission by ‘The Voice of Stray dogs’ (www.strays.in)

Chodavaram village illegal slaughter house East Godavari District (AP, India): Illegal slaughter in India. Pictures © Animal Rescue Org. Kakinada. Used with permission by ‘The Voice of Stray dogs’ (www.strays.in)

Chodavaram village illegal slaughter house East Godavari District (AP, India): Illegal slaughter in India. Pictures © Animal Rescue Org. Kakinada. Used with permission by ‘The Voice of Stray dogs’ (www.strays.in)

The two illegal slaughter houses at East Godavari district, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh – one at Pithapuram, and the other at Chodavaram village – (to which these pictures pertain) were both ordered to be shut down by the High Court of Andhra Pradesh at Hyderabad. The orders were passed in litigation initiated by the Animal Rescue Organisation (Registered) or its members/sympathizers, the details of which are as under :

• One order was passed by the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on 29th Pithapuram municipality to close down an illegal slaughter house in Pithapuram, East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, which it had failed to do despite 2 earlier orders passed by the District Collector directing it to do so.
  • The allegations by the petitioner, Animal Rescue Organisation, were that all rules, such as the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughter House) Rules, 2001, were being violated, and that cows were being slaughtered, despite the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Prohibition of Cow Slaughter and Animal Preservation Act, 1977. The order passed by the High Court, can be seen HERE.
• The second order was passed by the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on 26th directing the Chodavaram Gram Panchayat, the District Panchayat Officer of the East Godavari district, the District Collector of the East Godavari district, among others, to close down the illegal slaughter house in Chodavaram village, East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh. The order passed by the High Court, can be seen here:

Chodavaram village illegal slaughter house East Godavari District (AP, India): Illegal slaughter in India. Pictures © Animal Rescue Org. Kakinada. Used with permission by ‘The Voice of Stray dogs’ (www.strays.in)

However, these two slaughter houses were really the tip of the ice-berg, and there are many more in Andhra Pradesh, and the rest of the country.

Rampant illegal slaughter, and transportation for slaughter, continues even at Andhra Pradesh, despite the orders passed by the High Court referred to above. This will be apparent from the third set of pictures of cows that were being transported for slaughter (earlier this month, i.e. March, 2014), in violation of the Transportation Rules.

WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY, ABOUT SLAUGHTER OF ANIMALS FOR FOOD, AND SLAUGHTER HOUSES :

Section 11 (3) (e) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, makes it clear that slaughtering an animal for food is tantamount to the offence of Cruelty, as defined in Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, if it is accompanied “by the infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering”.

Moreover, elaborate slaughter house rules were notified in the year 2001, specifying what is ‘legal’ slaughter of animals for food. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughter House) Rules, 2001, framed under Section 38 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, can be seen here

Broadly the slaughter house rules mandate that

• Animals can only be slaughtered in licensed slaughter houses
• No animal can be slaughtered in the presence of another animal
• Animals have to be stunned prior to slaughter
• No animal which is pregnant, or has an offspring less than 3 months old, or is under the age of 3 months, can be slaughtered.
• Animals have to be certified as fit for slaughter by a veterinarian.
• BUT, the veterinarian assigned to a slaughter house cannot examine more than 96 animals in a day.
• Animals meant for slaughter, and transported to a slaughter house for the purpose, have to be fed and given adequate water.
• The reception area in a slaughterhouse has to have a ramp, and proper arrangements for unloading them from vehicles or railway wagons, and adequate facility for feeding and watering the animals.
• Separate isolation chambers have to be provided in every slaughter house, with adequate watering and feeding arrangements, for animals suspected to be suffering from contagious and infectious diseases.
• There have to be separate holding areas for each class of animals to be slaughtered ; and each holding area has to have provision for adequate water and feeding.
• Resting areas have to be provided, with “overhead protective shelters”. That is the terminology used in the rules.
• Every animal meant for slaughter, after inspection by the veterinarian on duty, has to be allowed to rest in an adequate resting place, for 24 hours before slaughter. The quantum of space to be provided has also been specified. The resting area for animals meant to be slaughtered, has to be such as will protect them from heat, cold, and rain.
• ADEQUATE DRAINAGE FACILITY HAS NECESSARILY TO BE PROVIDED FOR. SLAUGHTER HOUSES HAVE TO BE KEPT CLEAN, AND HAND WASH-BASINS, KNIFE STERILIZERS, ETC., PROVIDED.
  • Adequate provision has to be made such that carcasses can be washed with jets of water.
• Immediate disposal of legs, horns, hooves and other parts of animals through “spring load floor chutes or sidewall doors or closed wheelbarrows” has to be effected.
• Hides and skins have also, immediately to be transported from slaughter houses in closed wheelbarrows, etc.

Elaborate specifications for slaughter house buildings are also set out in the Rules. For instance,

• The kind of doorways, doors, floors, interior walls, ceilings, window ledges, etc., is all clearly specified.
• INSECT CONTROL AND RODENT PROOFING of the sort specified, has to be provided.
• The quantum, and extent of water supply, drainage, lighting and ventilation, etc., is specified.
• A person younger than 18 years, who doesn’t possess the requisite license issued by the local authority, cannot be employed at a slaughter house.

As will be apparent from these pictures of the illegal slaughter houses that the High Court eventually ordered must be shut down, NONE of the safeguards specified in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughter House) Rules, 2001, were being followed.

The concerned municipality / local authority, was, however, “looking the other way”, and allowing the violation of law to take place.

Pictures from cows being transported for illegal slaughter into Andhra Pradesh

Cows illegally transported for slaughter, now at SPCA Kakinada.(AP, India): Illegal slaughter in India. Pictures © Animal Rescue Org. Kakinada. Used with permission by ‘The Voice of Stray dogs’ (www.strays.in)

Cows illegally transported for slaughter, now at SPCA Kakinada.(AP, India): Illegal slaughter in India. Pictures © Animal Rescue Org. Kakinada. Used with permission by ‘The Voice of Stray dogs’ (www.strays.in)

Cows illegally transported for slaughter, now at SPCA Kakinada.(AP, India): Illegal slaughter in India. Pictures © Animal Rescue Org. Kakinada. Used with permission by ‘The Voice of Stray dogs’ (www.strays.in)

Cows illegally transported for slaughter, now at SPCA Kakinada.(AP, India): Illegal slaughter in India. Pictures © Animal Rescue Org. Kakinada. Used with permission by ‘The Voice of Stray dogs’ (www.strays.in)

Cows illegally transported for slaughter, now at SPCA Kakinada.(AP, India): Illegal slaughter in India. Pictures © Animal Rescue Org. Kakinada. Used with permission by ‘The Voice of Stray dogs’ (www.strays.in)

Earlier on illegal cow slaughter on The Voice of Stray Dogs 

• Read an authoritative report on beef slaughter and export in India
• Read more about the illegal transportation and slaughter in investigation of slaughter house(s) in Uttarakhand, cow transportation and slaughter in NCR, cow transportation and slaughter in West Bengal, another report on cow transportation and slaughter in West Bengal
• Read the religious slaughter of goats in Tamilnadu, illegal slaughter of camels in NCR

The complete gallery of pictures of the article Illegal Cow Slaughter prevalent across India (Part 1): The case of AP High Court closing illegal slaughter houses in Kakinada (AP)