The illegal meat trade is now the third largest illegal
trade in the UK, one worth an estimated £1 billion
a year. So much of vital national and international importance
is connected to the illegal meat trade issue: the spread
of viruses and zoonoses - including Ebola, the threat
to public health through the spread of "dirty meat",
the constant risk of infection to livestock, secret and
inhumane slaughtering, exploitation of Third World wild
animals and habitats.
Central authorities, usually so eager to impose their
blanket regulations on the law-abiding, appear to show
little enthusiasm for devoting resources to stopping and
prosecuting those involved in the illegal trade. It is
well known that criminal gangs involved will stop at nothing
to protect their source of easy millions.
A courageous fighter on our behalf, Dr Yunes Teinaz,
will be speaking on the Illegal Meat Trade and food safety
at the North
East Region Annual Symposium, Britannia Hotel, Newcastle
Airport - 5th to 7th April 2006. Dr Teinaz was recently
quoted in the Observer 'In one of the biggest cases I
was involved with, in which we had seized 250 rotten sheep
carcasses and 100 sheep heads, the criminals ended up
with a £250 fine and 140 hours of community service.
I got my car clamped on the same day and it cost me nearly
as much,'
See also Simon Hoggart's recent comment in the Guardian
"Doomed".
