Compliance
My culling team is registered with the Department of Agriculture Free State Province with the license, number of B 007926 and registration number of HU 05501003. The team consists of 4 qualified marksman, a registered game meat inspector, 8 operators on the vehicles and 8 qualified people working at the registered mobile abattoir. All people working in my team has medical certificates which certify that they are fit, healthy and healthy to work with the carcasses. The people working on vehicles helps to load and offload the shot animals and also see to the slitting of the throats of the animals shot. The trained and skilled people at the abattoir see to the cutting off of heads and feet. Each of the other people has dedicated jobs that has to be seen to at the abattoir.
This registration is valid for one year and as a team, we only the harvest game according to the VPN as for export of game meat issued by the Department of Agriculture.
Supervision
We believe in a one shot kill, head and neck shots. The throat must be slit within 5 minutes after the shot for a proper bleeding. Thoracic shots will cause excessive bleeding into thoracic cavity with blood contamination. Abdominal shots will cause contamination of the meat with the intestinal and rumen content.
Most of the culling is done at night for better shot placement and not to disturb other animals. We use silencers or suppressors on out culling rifles to reduce the shot of the fire arms.
Bleeding is done by cutting the throat slitting the jugular vein and the carotid artery on either side of the neck with a clean sterilized knife.
Harvesting
Different categories of game, is bled in different ways, with category B animals, like kudu, eland and wildebeest is lying on a 20 degree ramp on the shooting vehicle. Category C, animals, like springbuck and blesbuck, is hanging on the sides of the vehicle.
Our vehicles and equipment for the harvesting are inspected by the department so we can deliver the proper service.
Our staff is going every year for their medical tests because we believe in serious hygiene principals.
At our mobile abattoir we have a two knife system, where the knives are sterilized with a chemical, called Milton.
We also see that the guy who is working on the outside of the animal is not working on the inside, for instance to remove the pluck.
We believe in the 10/10 code for cooling of the animals. The carcass must be below 10 degrees within 10 hours after been put into the cooling truck. This gives a better shelve life of the product and the end of the day.
We as a team do our utmost to deliver animals without stress for the better quality of meat to the end producer.
Hygiene and tractability
It is our aim to remove the bad stigma from the South African housewife about venison. The animals which were badly shot and brought into the homes of some hunters left really some bad taste to the housewife.
We believe that evisceration must take place before the animal is bloated and that the insides could be removed without messing in the inside of the animals.
Contamination must be illuminated and is not allowed at all. Body shots are not to be loaded in the cool truck and will be for the account of the person who pulled the shot.
Hands are washed on a regular basis with hot water and soap from a geyser attached to the mobile abattoir. A 200l tank filled with clean water, supply water to the geyser.
Only healthy animals are loaded because every animal is inspected by Hans who is a qualified game meat inspector, before weighed and loaded.
As part of our service to the industry, I have done my game meat inspection course through dr. Tertius Bergh, to assure that healthy and good quality meat get to the consumer. We as a team does everything above board and does not do any culling what so ever what is in conflict with the law.
Inspection of the carcass is done in the veld at the mobile abattoir. The pluck, consisting of the lungs, hart, liver and spleen are inspected of every animal. In cases of wildebeest, the heads are also inspected. Every carcass get numbered as well as the pluck. A report is given to the inspector at the game abattoir of the partly dressed carcasses. All carcasses of category B & C must be transported in a hanging position.
The skins are removed at the game abattoir where the final inspection is done on the animals been shot. Removing of skins are not allowed to be done at the mobile abattoir because of various possibilities of contamination.
With every batch of animals is a full report is sent to the abattoir where the animals are skinned, which includes the farm name, district, date when it was shot as well as any irregularities that may have been discovered during the cull.
References: | Area | Mobile |
---|---|---|
Kobus Odendaal | Bultfontein | 082 927 2003 |
Louis de Jager | Dewetsdorp | 083 240 1588 |
Phillip Smith | Kimberley | 082 555 1820 |
Koenie Avling | Karan Beef Heidelberg | 082 391 8662 |
Jannie Schoeman | Samancor Middelburg Mpumalanga | 082 881 2489 |
Andries Mulder | Zastron | 083 292 4677 |
Stephan Gorr | Bloemhof Dam Nature Reserve | 082 574 7427 |
Francois Joubert | De Wetsdorp | 083 252 5471 |