Different animals, ranging from cows and goats to camels are going to be seen almost everywhere, on streets or a former empty, barren piece of land this Eid-ul-Adha.
Animals will be tied to posts almost every step of the way and we all know, where there is a herd of cattle, there is a foul smell taking over the air. The city will start to look and smell like a farm and just like the hygiene standards of a farm, health measures have never been taken properly – something that is questioned frequently in our country.
According to reports, more than one million animals are slaughtered in Karachi alone. When it comes to health, we are the most negligible people around. Our government is equally responsible for it.
Due to unavailability of free areas or grounds where animals can be kept secured from theft, people are resorted to tying these animals as close as possible and that means either keeping them in their homes or outside their streets. Due to this, many of us are in constant contact with farm animals, which is unhealthy and unhygienic.
We do not realize that being in close contact with such animals increases our chances of catching the Congo virus, which is extremely deadly and the death rate for the disease is quite high.
But this is not where things go bad. Things get worse once the slaughtering starts.
Once the animal has been sacrificed, people throw away slaughter waste wherever convenient without even thinking twice. People usually throw away the offal near their homes without thinking about the associated health risks.
Animals such as rats, vultures, cats and dogs feed on the waste and make the disposal site a breeding ground for a multitude of diseases. People should think twice before throwing entrails outside their houses.
Some people conveniently just discard the waste at the nearest empty ground or outside their homes, hoping that some ‘waste management company’ will take care of it. They should know that they need to take care of it themselves.
In United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other developed countries, the slaughtering procedure is done in a well-maintained and hygienic environment, where all they need to do is to take their animals (sometimes even that is taken care of) to the slaughter house and get them cut in a clean, healthier way. Meanwhile, in Pakistan, such a concept is alien to the people.
At the end of the first day of Eid-ul-Adha, all I see everywhere is blood and slaughter waste and it disgusts me terribly. As a child, I refused to eat meat simply because of the ‘remains’ I had seen outside, everywhere.
In Pakistan, with a population of over 200 million, we already have enough issues to worry about and fear. The thing we need to add on to the chart is a hygiene issue. That being said, where there is a will, there is a way. All is not lost.
This situation can improve and get better if every individual takes responsibility on himself, being a citizen of this country and carries out the slaughtering process in a civilized and educated manner.
People who wish to carry out slaughtering at their homes should discard the waste and remains in a well-organized manner. The government should also do its part and implement waste management procedures whereby people can bag the waste, which can then be collected by waste trucks from outside people’s homes.
Bloody roads, animal skin and unwanted organs with flies hovering around is not only a disgusting sight but extremely unhygienic. Why does one want to invite a disease knowingly when some simple steps can ensure a happy, clean and hygienic Eid for you and your family to enjoy?
