Source: Reuters
MUMBAI, INDIA, December 21, 2000: An international animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), said it planned to urge some Middle Eastern countries to boycott meat from an Indian abattoir (slaughter house) because of its unhygienic and inhumane conditions. They will present a video of the conditions in the Deonar abattoir in the city of Bombay as evidence. Jason Baker, PETA’s India head, said he would meet government officials in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar. Members of PETA are demanding that the government-owned slaughterhouse be closed until animal protection laws were met. “I will investigate the matter, and if it is true, then I will stop these practices,” Hareshwar Patil, mayor of Mumbai, told Reuters. PETA estimates around 13 million cows are slaughtered in India every year for beef and hide despite their sacred status in Hinduism.