Chennai: The Food Safety Department is waiting for test results from Madras Veterinary hospital to ascertain if the meat seized at Egmore Railway station on Saturday was indeed dog meat.
Efforts are also on to trace the origin of the parcel.
On 17 November, 20 thermocol boxes containing frozen animal meat was seized by Railway Police. The consignment reached Egmore in the Mannargudi-Bhagat Ki Kothi.
Officials immediately suspected it to be dog meat. A foul smell from the parcels led the Railway Police to examine them.
Incidentally, the men who were unloading the parcels fled the spot. According to reports, the boxes weighed 2,190 kilograms. Two whole animal samples have been sent to the Meat Sciences Department at the Madras Veterinary College in Vepery for examination.
Speaking to ‘News Today‘, Food Safety Officer, Dr Kathiravan said, “We are expecting the result of the food test this evening.”
When asked if it was dog meat as suspected, he said the Food Safety Department never claimed it to be dog meat and only media reports claimed so.
Regarding the owner of the consignment, he said that he has written to the Railway officials to find out the details of sender and who was supposed to receive it.
Reports say that the parcels were booked by someone in Gujarat and were loaded on to the train three days ago without proper cold storage facilities.