Similar types of vehicles are already in operation in countries like the United States and Sweden, said the province. (image: Yonhap)
Uijeongbu, South Korea, Aug. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – Gyeonggi Province announced Friday that it is investing 300 million won ($268,000) to develop what it calls a ‘Visiting Slaughterhouse’, a trailer-like truck fitted with government-approved butchery equipment. The truck, according to the province, will visit traditional markets and animal farms without licensed butchery facilities.
Although there are 20 licensed slaughterhouses in Gyeonggi, their business is mainly related to cows, pigs, chickens, and ducks – the most-consumed meat in Korea. But when it comes to less popular animals like goat and rabbit, owners have often opted to butcher the animals themselves to avoid the cost of using official facilities.
The 20 slaughterhouses process an average of 1,200 cows, 12,000 pigs, 504,000 chickens, and 18,000 ducks every day, while fewer than 70 goats are butchered, and rabbits are even more scarce. According to the province, slaughterhouses themselves also are unwilling to process the less popular animals because of their low profit margins.
Regardless, butchering animals at unlicensed and unregulated facilities is illegal, and many have called for government intervention given the practice’s lack of hygiene.
The announced truck is expected to begin operations in the first half of 2017, and the province will spearhead revisions to related laws, including the Livestock Sanitation Maintenance Law, to legally authorize this type of mobile butchery.
Similar types of vehicles are already in operation in countries like the United States and Sweden, said the province.
“Once we implement the slaughterhouse vehicle, we’ll be able to prevent illegal butchery, while ensuring the hygienic distribution of livestock products like goat and rabbit meat,” said a province official.
By Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
