Govt to take steps to ensure supply of healthy sacrificial cattle for Eid-ul-Adha

The government has planned to take some measures to ensure the supply of healthy sacrificial animals for the upcoming Eid-ul-Adha, so that unscrupulous traders cannot sell cattle fattened artificially using steroids and other harmful drugs.

As part of the move to stop selling of such animals, the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock has planned to deploy a total of 19,098 veterinary medical teams in 3,978 cattle markets across the country, including the capital during the upcoming Eid-ul-Adha, the second largest religious festival of the Muslims.

The fattening of cattle artificially using steroids and various other harmful drugs witnesses a rise ahead of Eid-ul-Adha across the country and some traders supply such animals to cattle markets across the country for making quick bucks despite its seriously harmful effects on human health. 

Md Tofazzal Hossain, acting secretary of the ministry, told BSS that the veterinary medical teams will help people to identify artificially fattened animals in markets, mentioning that the supply and trading of sacrificial animals on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha is an important matter to the national economy. 

"Everyone wants to buy healthy and fair looking cattle but sometimes people are being cheated by the scrupulous and dishonest traders," he said, adding that the government has given highest attention to this regard this year.

The government has already imparted training to 83,656 farmers for nursing and fattening of sacrificial animals in scientific methods, Hossain said, adding that livestock department with the help of district administrations held 6,600 village meetings (Uthan Baithak) and distributed over 3 lakh leaflets and posters to enhance consciousness among the farmers about the misuse of steroids to fatten cattle.

The district administration and the livestock department have already visited a total of 53,263 farms across the country to brief the farmers about the bad effects of the unplanned use steroids. They will also continue to operate mobile courts in this regard, the secretary added.

The Fisheries and Veterinary Food Act-2010 has a provision of awarding one year jail or maximum fine of Tk50,000 or both the punishment for using steroids in any unscientific manner.

Prof Dr AKM Humayun Kabir of the poultry and dairy science department of Chattogram Veterinary and Animal Science University told BSS that the injected steroid hormones badly affect the human health especially the babies. The steroid hormones can be the causes of tumor, cancer and kidney disease for the adults, even it may damage a women's ability to conceive, he added.

The ministry of fisheries and livestock has fixed a target of 1,24,47,337 sacrificial animals for this year's Eid-ul-Adha of which 56,2905 are cattle and buffaloes, 68,38,920 goats and rams and 5,512 other animals. 

After the Eid-ul-Adha, a total of 20,68,135 cattle heads will remain surplus in the country, the ministry officials expected.