553 cattle sacrificed at UAQ abattoirs

Up to 553 adahi or sacrificial animals were slaughtered on the first day of Eid Al Adha or feast of sacrifice, at the two abattoirs in Umm Al Quwain.
According to a senior official, people flocked to the Central Abattoir of Umm Al Quwain where 450 adahi, spanning sheep, goats, cows, and camels, were sacrificed while 103 were sacrificed at the Salma alaughterhouse on Thursday.
Dr Diaudeen Saleh, vet in charge at the UAE Central Abattoir, said the main slaughterhouse of the emirate started receiving customers immediately after Eid prayers.
"We started at around 7am and everything was smooth - slaughter, skinning and cutting operations were well-organised and no delay was reported."
He said the UAQ Central Abattoir is well-equipped to handle crowds. "These include two competent veterinarians, 20 butchers and 12 cleaners."
The same applies to the Salma slaughterhouse which has a veterinarian, six butchers and five cleaners. "These are apart from three employees of the public health section at the UAQ municipality who strictly follow all operations until delivery to customers."
Dr Saleh said the daily slaughtering capacity of the UAQ Central Abattoir is 450 to 550 cattle. "This is due to the examination process stringently observed by the staff veterinarians."
Random samples of the adahi are collected before and after the slaughtering process and sent to the vet lab of the Ministry of Environment and Water to ensure it is safe, diseases free, and fit for human consumption, he pointed out.
"Should any contamination be detected, the animal is immediately disqualified, and sent out of the abattoir."
ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com