The office of the provincial veterinarian advised consumers not to buy goat meat from vendors whose supply did not pass through slaughterhouses.
 
            Dr. Ben Perez, the provincial veterinarian, said most goats meat sold in public places such as the roadsides, are slaughtered in the backyards and the animal did not go inspection.
 
            “Meat that did not pass through slaughterhouses are considered hot meat and can be confiscated by authorities,” Perez said
 
            Goat meat is considered a delicacy by both Ilocanos and Pangasinenses who cooked it into caldereta, pinapaitan, kilawen and sinampalokan.
 
            Perez had earlier warned goat meat vendors to have their animals slaughtered in slaughterhouses where they undergo ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections.
 
            “The animals are checked by inspectors before these are slaughtered to find out if they are sick. After being slaughtered, the insides of the animals are again checked if the innards are not infected,” he said.
 
            The animals slaughtered in the backyards do not undergo such examinations thus the consumers are not sure if what the meat they are buying came from healthy animals or not, Perez added.
 
            Consumers should inspect the meat if have marks by meat inspectors, he said.
 
            He also advised consumers not to buy meat which had been exposed on the roadsides for a long period of time as these could have been contaminated by pollutants or no longer fresh.