New Delhi, Feb 25 (IANS): A parliamentary committee has recommended that India's meat export policy be reviewed within three months, an animal protection agency said Tuesday.

The recommendation, made Feb 13, is based on a petition by Jainacharya Vijay Ratnasundarsuri along with two others to the Rajya Sabha Committee on Petitions last year.

It contained suggestions by organisations, including Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO), which highlighted the need to review the prevailing slaughter practices.

"We recommended that under the current policy, healthy animals are often slaughtered, although it should be animals that are old and unfit to work," said Shweta Sood, campaign coordinator, FIAPO in a statement.

Labelling the current slaughter practices as "cruel", Sood said that hardly any of the regulations governing slaughter processes are followed.

"Animals, whether cows, poultry, goats are raised in terrible conditions and then subjected to rough handling," she said.

The FIAPO stated that there are nearly 3,500 registered slaughter houses run by the municipal corporations and around 1,200 unregistered ones which cater to the domestic market in remote villages.

The statement also said that most of the slaughter houses are without basic amenities, and have low hygiene standards.

"Animals are killed using inhumane methods. Additionally, lack of care during transportation to the slaughterhouse results in injuries and high mortality. Often animals are killed within sight of one another," the statement said.