An ‘odd looking’ man was arrested in Nakuru County after he was found slaughtering a cat for meat.
The unknown man who is being held in Ukulima Police station told local reporters that he had slaughtered more than 1000 cats and sold its meat to businesspersons.
The man says he has been selling the meat since 2012, even though he has never let his customers know that his meat is slaughtered from cats.
“I tell my customers that I get the meat from Gioto (the area Nakuru dumpsite is situated) but they do not know it is cat meat,” he told reporters and town residents who thronged the station.
He says that he makes a profit of about sh.500 on each day.
The man was spotted on a railway line skinning a cat by local residents who later descended on him with crude weapons before police came to his rescue.
“This means most of the food being sold in Nakuru town is not fit for human consumption. The man says he has a ready market and has slaughtered hundreds of cats. This is unbelievable and frightening,” a witness said.
The suspect is still being held at Ukulima Police station and will appear in court this week
Slaughtering cats and selling its meat is against the country’s health laws.
According to the Meat Control Act, it is dangerous to eat unsuspected meat and flesh from animals not prescribed to be human food. The Act says cat meat is not food
Eating cat meat poses risks of contacting toxoplasmosis and other contagious diseases often carried by these cats
Developing news
The suspect James Kimani pleaded guilty to charges of slaughtering and selling cat meat in samosas in Nakuru; magistrate handed him 3 years in jail