CHENNAI: Animal rights activists have urged the central government to ban export of buffalo meat even as they lauded Union ministry of commerce’s recent statement that export of beef has been prohibited in accordance with country’s foreign trade policy.

“The idea of banning beef export is a huge relief as it will help preserve cattle wealth in the country,” said G Arun Prasanna of the People for Cattle in India ( PFCI ), adding that the government should consider banning the export of buffalo meat.

It may be recalled that in a representation on June 25, Lok Sabha member Kirit Somaiya asked the ministry’s stand on export of beef. In a letter dated July 9, minister of state for commerce and industry Nirmala Sitaraman said the export of beef (meat of cow , oxen and calf) had been prohibited.

However, animal husbandry was a state subject and the state governments could enact legislations to preserve cattle, it said. It also said the department of commerce had withdrawn the Transport Assistance Subsidy (TAS) to meat exporters since January 1, 2014.

According to PETA India (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) CEO Poorva Joshipura, there are around 30,000 unlicensed slaughterhouses in India. Cows and other animals were being transported across the state borders, she said. “They are being transported even to Bangladesh, to be slaughtered,” she said.

“I have personally investigated the transport and slaughter of cows in India. They are either marched to slaughterhouses or crammed on to vehicles in high numbers that often their bones break and many of them die of suffocation and injuries en route,” she added.

