'Hope illegalities will be checked'

Hailing the high court's interim order, animal activists have expressed hope that this will check the illegalities that were under way at the Goa Meat Complex at Mharvasado-Usgao in Ponda. Hanuman Parab, president of the petitioner Govansh Raksha Abhiyan, and Poonam Kapoor, an activist from Hyderabad who is pursuing the issue in Goa, welcomed the order saying it comes after a year of hard struggle, threats and "strong resistance from all quarters, including police and implementing authorities".Parab said the abhiyan has submitted his and the names of Amrut Singh of the animal rescue squad and Josphine Anthony, an animal lover, to the high court to oversee the animals being brought for slaughter at the complex. Sources at the complex told TOI that they had not yet received the court order and till late Thursday afternoon no animal was slaughtered.Referring to the findings of the three-member inquiry committee that underage animals were being slaughtered at the complex, Kapoor claimed, "The vets responsible for inspection had themselves accepted in a video taken by activists that the animals were underage." She alleged the complex harboured potential health hazards as there were no checks on the health and hygiene of the animals before slaughter.