Slaughter of donkey Equus Asinus,"The Ass" for meat: A survey of sources of meat in Equatorial of Southeastern Nigeria

Abstract

Records on supply (1990 -1994) and slaughter (1984 -1994) were analysed to study the scale, monthly and annual trend of the supply and slaughter of donkey, the ass, Equus asinus for meat at the Ezillo in Ishielu Local Government Area, near Abakaliki, in Ebonyi State of Nigeria. There were two peaks of supply/slaughter in the year. The first occurred I April while the second was by November/December. In each man th of the year, an average of 700 donkeys were supplied from various parts of northern Nigeria. The total supply in 1990 was 6612. This increased sharply to 11,817 by 1994. More than 50% of the supplies were slaughtered at Ezillo monthly. The rest were resold to traders from various others states of the Federation. Also fresh and dried donkey meat were purchased and transported to other towns and markets in the southern States of the country. Post mortem examination of the meat revealed that tuberculosis was the most prominent disease found in 31.69% of the slaughtered animals. This has very serious public health implications