Conservator of Forests, Denny Dipchansingh has warned the public to be careful of where they buy their wild meat as he said there is a flood of illegally imported wild meat carcasses on the market.
Dipchansingh told Guardian Media that aside from being brought in illegally, the meat is often rotted, riddled with maggots and “cleaned” in dirty river water before it reaches to the meat shops where unsuspecting consumers buy it.
In an interview at the Forestry Division’s St Joseph headquarters, Dipchansingh said these illegal imports may pose a serious health risk.
On October 6, three locals were arrested and dozens of agouti, lappe, tattoo and deer carcasses were seized from a boat that was trying to enter this country in the Chaguaramas area.
Those men have been charged and the matter is before the court.
But Dipchansingh said the public is still at risk for purchasing spoilt, bacteria-riddled meat as unscrupulous business people are roasting the carcasses, cutting it and seasoning it before selling it.
“The fact is some of these carcasses may not be safe for human consumption we don’t know where they originated from, where they would have been washed, some of the waterways would have polluted or had bacteria and some of these wild meat is not kept on ice, they may have been stored in unsanitary conditions
we are telling the public to be careful of what you purchase out there, it might get you ill if you consume it,” Dipchansingh said.
He said the forestry division is advising wild meat lovers to try to buy their meat from hunters or hunting groups.
He said while there is little difference between the local and foreign carcasses, a consumer’s best bet would be with fresh meat.
“With the frozen carcasses, it is extremely difficult to tell the difference between local and foreign,” he said.
If the meat is bought from a third party, Dipchansingh suggests asking questions about the source of the meat.
