Towards Eid al Adha, the demand of sacrificial animals is increasing. Nevertheless, the committee of Eid al Adha are suggested to carefully choose the animals for slaughter. Lecturer of UGM, Ir. Edi Suryanto, M.Sc., Ph.D., reminded the public not to buy cattle that are raised in dirty neighborhood because it is likely to be contaminated with various diseases. "Do not buy the cow that eats garbage," said Edi in training slaughtering sacrificial animals in the Auditorium of the UGM, Thursday (1/9).
According to Edi, the meat of garbage-eating cow generally contains diseases due to contamination of heavy metals. "In fact, consumed meat must be healthy and hygienic," he said.
In addition to heavy metal contamination, garbage-eating cow has a higher risk of bacterial and viral infections that are very harmful to humans.
To the hundreds of Eid al Adha training participants from various representatives of the mosque in Yogyakarta, Edi expects the committee to not hesitate to contact the local Animal Husbandry Department or veterinarian to examine the health condition of sacrificial animals before and after slaughter. "You could ask for antemortem and postmortem examination by a veterinarian," he explained.
According to Edi, sacrificial services provide an opportunity for the public to share the sacrificial meat to be consumed. But, according to Eddie, it is still unable to increase the average level of beef consumption per capita. As known, the level of beef consumption reached 2.56 kg per capita per year. "The level of consumption of meat is still low compared to Malaysia which is 15 kilograms per capita a year," he said.
Vice-Dean for Finance, Assets, and Human Resources of Faculty of Animal Sciences, Prof. Dr. Ir. Zuprizal, DEA., said the training activities is held regularly every year. The training was attended by the representative officials of mosque in Yogyakarta. The purpose of this training is to provide knowledge to the committee on managing slaughter that is not only following religion’s policy but also meeting the criteria for a healthy meat. "We expect the results of this training, participants can share this knowledge to others," he said.