Egypt to consider tougher penalties against donkey meat suppliers

CAIRO- 14 May 2017: A draft bill aiming to enforce more rigorous penalties against sellers and traffickers of donkey, dog, mule and cat meat was submitted by Parliamentarian Badawi Abdel Latif on Saturday.

The proposed bill stipulates an imprisonment penalty between three and seven years and a fine up to EGP 500 thousand ($27700 dollar) for crimes of commercial fraud in the meat market.

According to Abdel Latif's statement, the more rigorous penalty system that is being proposed is a response to what he perceives as laxity by the current meat market officials.

Abdel Latif further clarified that selling and trafficking in donkey meat is currently fined with a fee of 500 EGP, which he deemed as too lenient and insufficient as a penalty.

According to a statement by the Ministry of Agriculture, 70,000 donkeys have been slaughtered in Egypt and their skins were sold abroad, while their meat were traded for food consumption by Egyptian citizens.

Asyut supply officers, in collaboration with the directorates of supply, health and medicine, managed to detect 95 kilos of illegal meat products on Friday.