Specify Measures Taken To Avoid ‘Hideous Display’ Of Animal Carcasses By Meat Shops: Meghalaya High Court To State Govt

The Meghalaya High Court has asked the state government to specify the effective measures taken by it to prohibit the hideous display of carcasses on either side of main roads at meat shops.

The bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W. Diengdoh sought an affidavit from the state government in this regard after the HC was informed that the state has put in place appropriate district animal market committees in accordance with the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017.

It may be noted that the High Court has been appealing to the State government to take effective measures to ensure that such carcasses are not openly displayed and are kept within cases to ensure that the dust and grime of the roads do not get to them.

"For a long time, in several matters, this Court has been referring to the aesthetically hideous display of carcasses on either side of main roads, be it for vending chicken or mutton or pork or beef. Apart from the visual pollution, which may not be appealing to even the most carnivorous of non-vegetarians, the dust and grime that the carcasses are exposed to make them unhygienic for human consumption," the Court remarked.

Apart from this, the Court also raised the issue of how animals that are culled for meat are ferried, both across the State and over the State borders. The Court observed that rather than "tying up dozens of live chickens by their legs and having them hanging upside down from cycle handles or pushing far too many animals into a cramped vehicle with not enough legroom and ferrying them over long distances", there could be far more ethical ways to treat them. 

Against this backdrop, the Court said that since the district animal market committees have now been constituted for more than a year, effective measures ought to have been taken in respect of the matters referred to above and also the conditions in the marketplace, both with respect to better treatment of animals, hygiene and cleanliness.

Hence, the Court has now sought a report in respect of the matters referred to herein through a responsible official in the secretariat when the matter appears next three weeks.

Case Title - Bakul Narzary vs State of Meghalaya & ors [PIL No. 7 of 2023]

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