Missing cats end up as ‘mutton biryani’

Gypsies are catching the felines and selling their meat to roadside eateries

An uncanny link to missing cats and piping hot ‘mutton’ biryani sold at some roadside eateries here may stump one. Who would not shudder if what he or she thought to be mutton chops turn out to be cat meat?

Precisely, that is what is happening for more than two decades here at some roadside eateries, according to an animal welfare group.

People for Animals, which has taken up the matter, alleged a section of gipsies, known as ‘Narikoravas’ had been indulging in catching cats and selling their meat to the eateries after brutally killing the animals. The issue was brought to the notice of the city police commissioner in a recent petition, co-founder of People for Animals (Chennai) Dr Shiranee Pereira said.

Following a discrete investigation, the group with police support recovered about 40 cats during searches at some ‘Narikorava’ colonies in the city, she said. A senior police official, who heads the team formed to halt cat theft and the meat of the animal being sold as mutton, said “action will continue” to check it. “Narikoravas operate from midnight to dawn; catch cats with wire loops and nets,” Pereira told PTI.

‘Narikoravas’, a nomadic community, slyly trap cats and sell its meat to small-time roadside eateries in suburbs — several of them located near liquor bars — who pass it off as mutton and sell it to unsuspecting consumers, she said.

The cats are mostly killed by the gipsies in a “horrendous manner by throwing them in hot water”, Pereira said.

Gypsies eat cat meat and it forms part of their menu especially on occasions such as weddings.