Amid frog meat rumours, Punjab to set up frog farms

Days after rumours regarding frog meat being used by restaurants across its provincial capital, Punjab has decided to set up frog farms, but for an entirely different purpose.

Reports quoted Punjab Fisheries Assistant Director Mian Ghulam Qadir as saying that the department has forwarded to the government a summary in this regard. “There are no turtle or frog farms in Pakistan and medical colleges that need any [for dissection], have to go hunting for them in the wild.”

He added that if the provincial cabinet approves the plan, besides saving time wasted in hunting, it would generate employment opportunities.

“On top of this, breeding turtles and frogs domestically will not only preserve the species, but they can also be exported to countries like Thailand and China where they eat them,” Qadir said, adding that they are also quite expensive in the international market.

LAHORIS BEING SERVED FROG MEAT?

Last month, reports claimed that frog meat was being served across Lahore in shawarma and burgers. The news took social media by storm soon after pictures showing two suspects arrested with sacks full of dead frogs, started doing rounds over the internet.

The reports were debunked by authorities upon clarification that the two arrestees were only delivering the frogs to a laboratory that supplies them to medical universities. Medical students dissect the frogs and practice suturing on them.