The exercise, undertaken in collaboration with Eyes on Animals, End Plastic Soup, Ummy Relief Foundation, and with support from the Tamale Metropolitan Environmental Health Directorate, sought to improve sanitary conditions, enhance environmental safety, and raise awareness on animal welfare among butchers and consumers.

Mr. Abdul Rahman Safian, Director, WACPAW, speaking during the exercise, underscored the importance of maintaining a clean environment and upholding the welfare of animals in meat processing.

He said “The majority of the meat supplied to markets in the region comes from this facility. As an organization committed to the welfare of people and animals, we believe that the environment where our meat is processed must be clean and safe.”

Mr. Safian expressed concern about the state of the abattoir describing it as a major challenge to meat hygiene and public safety.

He said WACPAW and its partners took the initiative to clean the facility and promote safer meat handling practices to protect public health.

Mr. Safian appealed to butchers to handle animals humanely emphasizing that animals felt pain just like humans.

He advised the butchers to maintain personal and environmental cleanliness to ensure safe meat production.

Mr. Abdul Rashid Wumpini Alhassan, Executive Director of Ummy Relief Foundation and West Africa Director for Rotary’s End Plastic Soup initiative, expressed concern about the increasing plastic pollution in the city.

He said microplastics and nanoplastics, though invisible to the human eye, often found their way into food systems especially meat- thereby posing potential health risks to consumers.

He said raising awareness among butchers was crucial to helping them understand the impact of poor sanitation on meat quality and public health, and called for stronger collaboration among abattoirs across the region to promote sustainable sanitation practices.

Mr. Abdul Rashid Mumuni, Secretary, Tamale Butchers Association, expressed gratitude to WACPAW and its partners for the initiative and pledged that lessons learned from the exercise on meat hygiene and safety would be put into practice.