Cairo donkey butchers caught red-handed

CAIRO: Two Cairo butchers have been arrested for allegedly passing off donkey, cat and dog carcasses as beef, a security official told AFP on Monday. Mohammed Mahmoud Khalifa, 35, was caught red-handed as he butchered a donkey he had found by the roadside in a street in the densely-packed Cairo district of Bulaq-Dakrur, the official said. He confessed to collecting carcasses from around Cairo and selling their meat to Wasfi Sawiris, 53, for LE 5 a kilo, a tenth of the normal price for beef. Sawiris then allegedly ground the meat up with spices to disguise the taste before selling it to local restaurants. It was not clear how long the men had been plying their illegal trade. More than 1,700 kilos of meat was found in Sawiris shop, mostly donkey but also including cat, dog and horse meat. Under Islamic law it is forbidden to eat the meat of any carnivore or of any animal that has not been slaughtered in the traditional way. Rampant inflation has hit the cost of food staples in Egypt in recent months, making meat even less accessible for the poor. Around 40 percent of Egyptians live on or near the poverty line of $2 a day, according to the World Bank. -AFP