ALKHOBAR, 16 November 2004 — Thousands of heads of livestock are slaughtered across the Kingdom during the Eid holiday. The government has established locations on the outskirts of each city manned by butchers and veterinarians for the safe slaughter of these animals but many people ignore these areas. People say that the slaughterhouses are too far away from their homes or that they want to feed and care for the animal before they personally take the knife to its throat. Most commercial kitchens prefer to slaughter their own livestock at their facilities rather than making the trip back and forth to the slaughterhouse with hundreds of carcasses.

Ameen Ali, a 27-year-old butcher from Mukallah, Yemen, stated that he will slaughter up to 350 goats over the Eid Al-Fitr holiday. While this livestock will be slaughtered in an Islamic manner, it will not be butchered according to the Kingdom’s regulations as no veterinarian will be present. Ali believes that he has been working as a butcher for so many years that he has the experience to know when an animal is ill and so he doesn’t see the need for veterinary oversight.

“I slaughtered my first sheep when I was 15 years old,” he explained. “At that time I was afraid although I tried not to show it. My older brother had to hold the sheep for the slaughter and I was the one who slit its throat. That day I felt bad. Now, it’s not a problem. I take care of the animals for some time before they are slaughtered and it’s easy to tell if they are sick. I wouldn’t butcher an animal if it were sick so there’s no reason a veterinarian would be needed. Most of the animals we slaughter are quite young and they haven’t had time to develop diseases.”

Ali no longer has any difficulty in slaughtering goats on his own. He said that with what’s going on in Iraq and Palestine and the number of people being slaughtered there, the killing of an animal for food seems insignificant. He did insist that the act must be done quickly and accurately.

“Use a sharp knife and handle the animal firmly but with kindness,” Ali emphasized. “Don’t be cruel.”

Hilal Al-Ghoraybi, a teacher and member of a tribe from the west coast of Saudi Arabia agreed with Ali. While he doesn’t slaughter the animals for his kitchen personally, he said that most of the males in his extended family prefer to slaughter sheep and goats by themselves.

“It is common in Saudi Arabia that if you have a large yard you will care for the sheep or goat for about a month and then slaughter it in the yard,” Al-Ghoraybi said. “Some people bring butchers to the house to help with the slaughter. Many Bedouin have camps in the desert where they keep livestock and those animals are slaughtered at the camp. They would never consider taking them to a slaughterhouse.”

He felt that in Saudi Arabia the number of livestock diseases harmful to humans is low except in the south. He added that the government has tight controls on inspecting imported live animals and that animals born and raised in the Kingdom are fed well and kept in reasonable conditions, far better than those found on commercial farms overseas.

“The local livestock are fed grain, greens and maybe kitchen scraps,” Al-Ghoraybi said. “They aren’t fed processed animal pellets made of recycled animal parts or other refuse. They are allowed to roam about and are not confined in small pens. The Bedouin know the habits of their animals well. They would recognize a sick animal immediately. When people slaughter in their yard or at a camp they always check the internal organs. If they found anything wrong with the liver, heart or kidneys, they wouldn’t eat the meat.”

Al-Ghoraybi stated that he is unconcerned with the unregulated slaughter of sheep and goats. He does worry though about the fresh chicken shops.

“Those shops are filthy,” he claimed. “They kill the chickens with dirty equipment from morning till night. Just take a look at the vats of boiling water and machines used to pluck the chickens. The smell is horrible and it’s apparent that bacteria are everywhere. Many of my friends who have eaten chickens purchased from those shops ended up at the hospital with dysentery.”

Dr. Laura Ebing-Broen, a veterinarian with experience in the European livestock industry was distressed to hear about the unhygienic, unsupervised slaughter of some local livestock. She advised that this poses a threat to public health.

“There are some diseases that can be passed from animals to humans. The only way to ensure that meat is acceptable for human consumption is through veterinary inspection of the animal both before and after the slaughter,” said Ebing-Broen.

She commented that butchers and veterinarians should work together to ensure that the animals are disease free.

“Small cuts should be made in the muscle to examine the carcass for parasites,” the veterinarian said.

“The internal organs and structures of the carcass should be examined thoroughly. Smell and feel are as important as visual inspection. There are also other tests such as pH and bacterial testing that may be necessary. Veterinarians are trained to look for diseases. Some of these conditions might be seen infrequently in well cared for livestock. Nevertheless, such diseases may be dangerous to humans. Eating meat without veterinary inspection is a risk that we no longer need to take in modern society.”