Opinion / Columnist
Abattoir will increase the commercial value of the donkey
24 Oct 2017 at 07:05hrs | Views
A donkey abattoir in Kenya. Animal rights groups in Zimbabwe are resisting the opening of the country's first ever donkey abattoir, saying such a venture will wipe out the animals. PHOTO | NMG
The donkey abattoir saga is a snapshot of the kind of society Zimbabwe is. A society diseased with serious intolerance of those who are different from the majority. It also shows how we think with our hearts instead of our heads.
Objections to the abattoir are based on nothing other than emotions and an attempt by a majority to force the minority to accept it's irrational beliefs.
There is a demand (world) for donkey meat just as there is a demand for rat meat. There is a supply of donkeys in Zimbabwe. Therefore there is business logic in setting up the abattoir.
It is a willing buyer willing seller arrangement and our existing stock theft laws will therefore deal with any case of theft. Some say we don't have numbers. But even this doesn't make sense. Villagers ain't going to go and sell all their donkeys just because an abattoir has been opened. They are more rational than that. If they weren't they wouldn't be owning the goats, sheep, chickens and cows they own. So we know they will sell only those that are excess to needs.
On the other hand the abattoir is going to create employment and increase the commercial value of the donkey. Clearly this is a welcome economic development? Instead of using our emotions we should instead be celebrating the opportunity and even thinking of donkey breading farms.
But alas our minds have been shut to reason for so long.
Objections to the abattoir are based on nothing other than emotions and an attempt by a majority to force the minority to accept it's irrational beliefs.
There is a demand (world) for donkey meat just as there is a demand for rat meat. There is a supply of donkeys in Zimbabwe. Therefore there is business logic in setting up the abattoir.
It is a willing buyer willing seller arrangement and our existing stock theft laws will therefore deal with any case of theft. Some say we don't have numbers. But even this doesn't make sense. Villagers ain't going to go and sell all their donkeys just because an abattoir has been opened. They are more rational than that. If they weren't they wouldn't be owning the goats, sheep, chickens and cows they own. So we know they will sell only those that are excess to needs.
On the other hand the abattoir is going to create employment and increase the commercial value of the donkey. Clearly this is a welcome economic development? Instead of using our emotions we should instead be celebrating the opportunity and even thinking of donkey breading farms.
But alas our minds have been shut to reason for so long.
Source - Ndaba Mloyi
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