You might be buying donkey meat from your butchery

By CYRUS OMBATI

There are fears that donkey meat is being sold to unsuspecting city residents.

Yesterday, five heads and skins of donkeys were found abandoned at an open field in Embakasi area with the owners of the animals saying unknown people had stolen them.

Locals found the heads and skins, which had been chopped off from the torso and limbs, after seeing vehicles leave the site, heightening the fears of the supply of the meat in the city.

The number of the donkeys could rise even further as more locals claimed they had not seen their animals in the last weeks.

"There are about 20 donkeys that have gone missing here and we find limbs and other body parts in the open field. We suspect they have been slaughtered and sold to some of the butcheries in the city," said Salome Mueni, who reared a donkey.

Police said they had launched investigation into the incident and have asked health officials from the city council to ensure all meat that are in butcheries are inspected.

"It seems some of the meat we eat comes from donkeys and wild animals, but we have told the relevant authorities to ensure the issue is checked," said Nairobi PPO Anthony Kibuchi.

Two men were arrested two weeks ago while transporting more than 400 kilogrammes of zebra meat to the Nairobi’s popular Burma Market.

The men had the meat stuffed in paper bags and were transporting it in a salon car when it was intercepted in Ngong Town.

Police said the men had confessed they were taking the meat to Burma, which is frequented by many meat lovers in the city.

Kibuchi said preliminary findings had showed the two had been supplying such meat to the market and other areas.