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Sindh High Court stays sheep cull till October 19
KARACHI: Sindh High Court Friday ordered to engage the services of an international laboratory, UK World Reference Lab to test the Australian sheep’s blood/tissue samples for the presence of any deadly infection, Geo News reported.
Justice Maqbool Baqar heard the petition filed by the importer against the culling of sheep.
During Friday’s hearing, Anwar Mansoor Khan submitted his papers as public prosecutor.
Khan, in his inaugural argument, summarized that what the court had so far been told was superficial, adding there was more to this matter than what met the eye.
In his remarks, Justice Baqar said that test reports from different laboratories, where the blood/tissue samples of the sheep were sent contradicted each other and no one was ready to shed light on exactly what happened in Bahrain.
To this, Khan said that Bahrain government had refused to give a reason in this regard.
On the other hand petitioner’s counsel prayed to the court for the permission of slaughtering healthy sheep so that the meat could be preserved as the expenses were piling up with every passing day.
After listening to the arguments of both sides the court ordered the representatives of all the stakeholders would monitor the process of collecting and dispatching new blood/tissue samples from the sheep.
The court, granting access to the sheep till the next hearing, advised the importer to provide the animals with fodder/water on top of monitoring them with close circuit TV cameras.
In its order, the court made it clear that the sheep would remain under police surveillance, which would make sure no animal goes in or out of the place where the herd was corralled in.
It also said that the initial expenses of the blood/tissue testing at UK Reference Lab would be borne by the petitioner, however the matter would be settled at the conclusion of the case.
Later the court was adjourned till October 19.
Courtesy www.geo.tv