Meat suppliers oppose ban on "tingal" method to slaughter animals

Meat suppliers are opposing a City Council proposal banning them from using methods such as "tingal" or oral forced drenching in slaughtering animals.

Speaking before the council in a public hearing last Wednesday, meat supplier Vic Pagador pointed out that the council's move would mean a loss of their capital.

Councilor Christopher Alix, who recently filed a measure amending some provisions in the city's existing rules and regulations governing the activities of butchers and helpers in slaughtering of animals, wanted to put a stop to the cruel practice of slaughtering.

But Pagador said, "ang maong balaod maayo but in realization daghan ang maghilak ug akong tan-aw mahurot gyud among puhunan," Pagador told the council members.

Pagador said that some of the animals they bought in the province have undergone "tingal" and that they have no other choice but also apply the same methods.

"Tingal" refers to the act of forcing water through the mouth of an animal set for slaughter to increase its body weight that would result in bloating and eventual suffocation.

The method, introduced by the Bureau of Animal Industry in 1980, has been practiced through the years.

Pagador said that there is no side effect on consumers who will eat the meat of the animal slaughtered through "tingal" only that the meat looks "wet" and "slimy."

But for Councilor Edgardo Labella, chair of the council committee on laws, ordinance, good government and public accountability, the ordinance intends to put a stop to a form of cruelty in slaughtering animals.

"The ongoing practice of torturing animals for commercial purposes to increase profit, the ordinance is both appropriate and timely," Labella said.

City veterinarian Alice Utlang has supported Alix's proposal, saying that "tingal" is a form of cruelty and is against the Republic Act 8485 or the Animal Welfare Law of 1998, which prohibits and penalizes any form of cruelty towards animals.

"Our agency is to protect the welfare of the animal. The traders committed two violations, the animal welfare's act and the consumer's act," Utlang said.

Alix's proposal prohibits the bringing in of bloated slaughtered animals, display of overhead plastic water containers used to force water into the mouth of the animal, and placing hose or tube into the mouth of the animal.

It carries a penalty of confiscation of the butcher's or helper's identification card issued by the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries for the first offense, banning of violators from entering the abattoir for the second offense, and indictment in court for the third offense. - Garry B. Lao