Picture: Wikimedia commons.
A recent post on Facebook regarding the slaughtering of animals in residential areas provoked many reactions. The question also arose whether this was legal or not, and what the sanitation implications were for the rest of the neighbourhood, reports Lowvelder.
According to municipality by-laws regarding public health, “except in the case of animals which the occupier of any premises may slaughter for his own or his family’s consumption, no person shall slaughter within the municipality, elsewhere than in the abattoirs, any animal of which the flesh is intended for human consumption”.
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It also adds that no person shall import, convey, or introduce into the municipal area the unfrozen carcass of any animal or unfrozen butcher’s meat of any animal slaughtered outside the municipal area, unless the place or premises where such animal was slaughtered has been approved by the council.
Both the city of Mbombela local municipality and the Ehlanzeni district municipality said they were not responsible for enforcing these rules.
Lowvelder was referred to the provincial department of agriculture. Their spokesperson, Bhekimuzi Nyathikazi, said it all depended on whether the meat was processed for public consumption or not.
“If that is the case, the house owner might be flouting the Meat Safety Act, obviously not following hygiene precautions. Although, this cannot be concluded before an inspection of the place,” Nyathikazi said.
In the post, that has since been deleted, the complainant pleaded for assistance from the SPCA.
Nelspruit SPCA chairperson Lize Pienaar said: “We are not responsible for removing carcasses. We are there to ensure that animals get transported correctly to wherever they are slaughtered and to ensure that they are slaughtered in a humane way.”
She emphasised that it was not within their jurisdiction to ask for documents that allow them to slaughter. However, they are required to phone the state vet if there was no transportation permit.
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