Doha - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) continue to await an appointment with the Director-General of the Agricultural Research and Development Department the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture (MMAA) Dr Hamad Saad Al Saad.
The animal rights organization has been in contact with the official's offices and are waiting to be allotted a specific date and time when they can meet with him, according to Maya Linden, Peta's Director of Animal Transport and Live Market Campaigns.
Mariam M Al Doseri, who heads the Division of Agricultural Organisations Affairs at the MMAA in an e-mail response to Linden stated that a September or November meeting is possible.
Peta has issues with the handling of sheep brought into Qatar from Australia. Linden stated: "On board the huge multi-tiered ships, sheep often fail to adjust to unfamiliar food, collapse from the heat, are kept in filth and suffer from rough handling. Many have suffered painful deaths during transport as a result of fires or other shipping disasters."
Linden further said: "Our investigations in January of this year found that those who do survive the journey are dragged from trucks by their ears and legs, tied up, beaten and hauled to poorly-regulated abattoirs and illegal backyard slaughterhouses where their throats are slit with multiple cuts while they are still fully conscious."
Peta stresses that such practices are "unacceptable under Islamic law" and illegal in Australia, Europe and the US. The organisation had toured the Middle East in May of this year and as a consequence, Linden seems encouraged by the feedback Peta has received till date.
"The response to Peeta's tour of the Middle East this year was overwhelmingly positive and we believe that the need to end these cruel practices is increasingly shared, not only by compassionate people worldwide but also by citizens of Qatar and other countries in the region," according to Linden.
In her mail addressed to Hamad Saad, Linden stated: "In January, investigators from Peta and Animals Australia witnessed sheep, which are easily frightened animals, routinely dragged by their hind legs and handled in a tough and abusive manner upon their arrival in Qatar.
Individual sheep were seen being purchased from importers, thrown to the ground and tied up with twine before they were crammed into trucks or the trunks of cars."
In May this year, Qatar Meat and Livestock Company (Mawashi) General Manager Yousuf Al Hammadi had denied that animals headed for slaughter were ill-treated. "Our company is careful to fulfill international terms and we slaughter the animals accordingly," the official said.
He also added that a delegation from Australia had no complaints against Mawashi's standards and that the company complied with global conditions, including constant training of personnel in the humane treatment of animals before they are led to slaughter.
By Staff Reporter
The Peninsula 2006
