"Govt Will Not License Donkey Abattoir"

The Department of Livestock and Veterinary Services (DLVS) announced that it will not license a donkey abattoir that is being built in Bulawayo by Battlefront Investments. This comes after the Zimbabwe National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said it shot 10 donkeys after noting that they were in a bad condition.

DLVS director Dr Josphat Nyika said that the abattoir can never be registered as there are no laws that provide for its registration. Said Dr Nyika:

We don’t know about the donkey abattoir, when it was constructed or if the construction has been completed. I have never seen any application for the setting-up of a donkey abattoir. We are the registration authority and after all we don’t have laws that allow for the registration of a donkey abattoir. It’s not even there on (Abattoir Inspection and Certification) SI (Statutory Instrument) of 1995 of the Veterinary Public Health thus it can never be registered. As the Department of Veterinary Services we report to the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development.

The non-licensing of the abattoir means Battlefront Investments will lose over $150 000 if it does not convert the infrastructure to serve another purpose.

More: Chronicle