Pakistan: ostrich not a bird
The Punjab Assembly has reached a majority consensus that an ostrich is not a bird. The Punjab’s government aim is, apparently, to ease the import farming and slaughter of ostriches.
The matter of the status of the ostrich came up in a renewed discussion of the Punjab Animal Slaughter Control Amendment 2012.
“As a non-native exotic bird, ostriches were treated under the law – until the latest amendment was passed – in a way that limited their use for commercial purposes. Of course, rather than update the laws that would allow ostrich farming to be regulated and ostrich meat to be consumed, the Punjab Assembly saw fit to declare ostriches as animals and skip the more cumbersome approach,” a local editorial said.
“Special interests lobbying for the change in rules are surely hoping to earn windfall profits and it has yet to be explained what loss the state exchequer may suffer from this,” it added.
Source: Deccan Herald
