SHC hears petition against culling of sheep

KARACHI: Sindh High Court (SHC) has acquired the services of senior experts from Karachi and Aga Khan Universities as well as Director PCSIR and DG environment department Sindh in connection with the hearing of petition against the culling of Australian sheep.

Presenting a report from the central veterinary laboratory Tando Jam regarding the presence of Anthrax in the sheep, Director Livestock Nazeer Kalhoro said that Anthrax could not be ruled out because of the high temperature of the sheep.

Justice Maqbool Bakar remarked that it had been declared earlier that samples of the dead sheep were not taken, so how could Anthrax be proved?

The letter of Pakistani ambassador in Australia produced in the court stated that Bahrain had rejected the sheep on the basis of scabby mouth disease but later allowed the healthy sheep to disembark, but as the vessel berth time had expired it had to leave the port. The letter also stated that laboratories in Islamabad, Faisalabad and Lahore have international recognition whereas the laboratory reports on the basis of which the sheep are being culled are not the recognized ones.

Upholding the stay order against the culling of sheep, the court instructed to appoint the VCs and senior microbiologists of Karachi and Aga Khan universities to assist the court in the matter and summoned Director PCSIR and DG Environment Department to court.