Pakistan’s government is being urged by the Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA) to bring an end to the export of livestock seed, which is posing a serious threat to the local leather industry.
The tanners made the Punjab Minister for Livestock and Dairy Development, Sardar Husnain Bahadar Dreshak, aware of the issues faced by the leather industry at a meeting this week. The issues raised by the group include animal skin diseases, the export of livestock seed and the smuggling of animals to Afghanistan.
According to PTA Chairman Agha Saiddain, live animals are being smuggled in large amounts to Afghanistan from Pakistan. He said the amount of livestock in the country is depleting fast and if proper steps were not taken to control the smuggling, it would create a severe hides and skin shortage for the local leather industry. He also bemoaned the poor quality of vaccination to the animals and said that skin diseases among them are on the rise.
The Minister of the association also stressed the need for conducting an animal census, to ensure the credibility of the statistical data on animals in the country. He also asked that the officials concerned ensure the effective monitoring of animal vaccination and underlined the need for evolving a mechanism in this regard.
