Govt to Employ 1200 Teams to Check Sacrificial Animals’ Health

The Government has taken the initiative to deploy a total of 1,200 veterinary medical teams throughout the country to ensure safe and disease-free sacrificial animals for customers during the upcoming Eid-ul Azha.

"A total of 1,200 veterinary medical teams and extra mobile teams will be deployed in all livestock markets throughout the country, as the team will carry out extensive monitoring to test the entry of every form of  diseased animal to the cattle markets," said Dr. Abdul Zabbar Sikder, Director General of the Department of Livestock Services (DLS).

In Dhaka City, the Chief Veterinary Officer said that some 26 veterinary medical teams had been engaged last year, but how many veterinary teams will be operating in the city this year is still to be decided, as it depends solely on the amount of cattle markets to be developed here.

The veterinary teams will inspect all animals before reaching the market, he added, noting that "any livestock infected with zoonotic diseases triggered by dangerous germs such as viruses, microbes, parasites and fungi can be prevented."

Sikder also stated that cattle farms will be checked and that after examining cattle farms, their officials will give safety certificates.

The country will not face any shortage of sacrificial animals during the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha as the supply of locally-reared cattle is quite enough to meet the demand while over 1 crore and 19 lakh animals are ready to be sacrificed this time.

According to the Department of Livestock, country’s farmers have about 1 million more animals than the demand.

“The country has adequate supply of sacrificial animals this year. Now we are trying to shift our focus on online cattle markets because of coronavirus,” said the DLS chief.

Meanwhile, the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) is expected to open an online marketplace for the selling of cattle in the light of the pandemic.

Using it, prospective buyers will be able to access animals on the platform, position orders and pay, all online, said DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam.

“We are going to negotiate with Nagad and some other digital transaction companies to facilitate online payment,” he said.

Around 3,000 cows will be displayed on the website, and members of the association will provide 2,500 cows.

“If we can sell 10 percent of the animals this year, we will consider it a success, as it is totally a new concept,” said the DNCC Mayor.

Customers, however, will have to pay  service charge for home deliveries, he added.

However, cattle rearers and traders have voiced concerns over the price of sacrificial animals owing to the stalemate situation created by  coronavirus.

According to the Bangladesh Dairy Farmers’ Association (BDFA), more than half of the cattle that get sold in the country throughout the year are actually sold during Eid-ul-Azha.

Shah Imran, general secretary of BDFA, said, “Many educated young people have set up cattle farms. Ordinary farmers have also increased rearing of cows and goats in the hope of good profits. But the problem is that the number of buyers and sellers in the cattle markets may decreases due to coronavirus pandemic.”

Shah Imran has also predicted that the number of animals to be sacrificed this Eid will be 20 percent less than other times because of the health risks posed by coronavirus.

Along with the DNCC initiative, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has launched a ‘Digital Haat’ for online sale and purchase of sacrificial animals ahead of Eid-Ul-Azha.

“The initiative has been taken to save the cattle farmers and traders from financial loss amid the Corona pandemic and also to stop further transmission of the deadly virus in the country,” State Minister of ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak exclusively told BSS last week.

He urged people interested in buying and selling of the sacrificial animals to register in this platform. The state minister also said that this is going to be the country’s biggest digital haat.

The government has also decided to transport sacrificial animals from the north and west of the country to Dhaka and Chattogram through the rail route.

The Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan made this announcement in Dhaka on Tuesday. He said based on demand, the service could be launched any day.

Source: BSS