Only legit cattle boughtMeatco has warned cattle rustlers that the company has several systems in place to prevent the procurement of stolen cattle at the mobile slaughter unit. Meatco has systems in place 0 Cattle rustlers, who assume they can sell stolen animals to the mobile slaughter unit in the northern communal area (NCA), must think again. Meatco has put various systems in place to ensure that no stolen animals are procured by this unit which is deployed in the NCA to assist communal farmers by bringing slaughter services closer to them.According to Meatco, technical advisors attend to farms and villages to purchase cattle for slaughter. The officers select the cattle with the appropriate quality and that have NAMLITS ear tags for purchase.
According to Meatco before leaving any settlement the producer, with the assistance of the officer, will need to obtain a movement permit from the Directorate of Veterinary Services (DVS) for cattle to be transported. The farmer is also required to complete a separate departure form that should be attached to the movement permit containing the details of each and every animal loaded on the truck.
Upon delivery to the site, the documents are collected from the truck driver and inspected thoroughly.
Further to this, the company is in constant contact with stakeholders within the respective regions, including Nampols’ stock theft unit, farmers’ associations and marketing cooperatives. Therefore, it will be nearly impossible for stolen cattle to go through undetected.
In addition, records of all slaughtered cattle are kept.
As a rule, Meatco buys cattle from well-known producers in the regions, therefore avoiding the procurement of stolen animals.