KARACHI, March 5: The city government has started vaccinating animals at the entry points of Karachi, located off the Super Highway and National Highway, compromising public health and without taking into confidence various stakeholders who claim that CDGK officials have put their businesses at stake just to mint money on the pretext of vaccinations.
The CDGK is keeping traders in the dark about the type of vaccine being administered to the animals, which has fuelled suspicion that unbranded, poor quality or expired vaccines are being used. Also, four animals have reportedly died and 13 have been rendered paralysed after being vaccinated by city government-designated contractors at the check-post within the jurisdiction of the Nooriabad police station, district Jamshoro, according to the Livestock Merchant Welfare Association (LMWA). Three animals died at Cattle Colony while one at Malir’s livestock market.
Criticizing the method the government has adopted to vaccinate animals under severe stress due to travelling long distances, Dr M. Sayedain Jaffery, a consultant at the Baqai College of Veterinary Sciences, said that it was completely against the norms of veterinary sciences.
“It’s very important to know the name, type, brand and quality of the particular vaccine. It’s likely that the animal has already got the dose or will receive it at its destination. Secondly, animals should be vaccinated at the place from where they are being transported and not during travel. The amount of stress they experience does not allow their bodies to develop any immunity against any disease for which they are being vaccinated.”
About the death of animals, he said that contaminated vaccines could cause death and disease and the meat of sick animals was definitely not healthy.
Abdul Latif Qureshi, General Secretary of LMWA, said: “We simply don’t know what type of vaccine is being forcibly administered to our animals. Earlier, about two months ago, the CDGK had initiated the same drive through contractors, who were receiving Rs50 per animal without administering any vaccine to them. Later, the high court declared it illegal, asking them to task the job to its own officials.”
Now, he said, the city government had again hired contractors for vaccinations, but this time the job was being done under the supervision of a government official.
“This has just been done to allay the objection raised by the high court. The fact of the matter is that this is a clear violation of the SLGO 2001, under which the government is required to seek the opinion of stakeholders concerned before imposing any tax,” he said, adding that forced vaccinations had started four days ago, though contractors started extorting fees for the purpose over a week ago.
‘Playing favourites’
He also said the contract had been given for two years, which should legally be for only one financial year. “The CDGK secretly gave the contract to its favourites extorting millions of rupees from animal traders,” he said, complaining that he brought this issue to the notice of the EDO agriculture, who didn’t give any positive response.
“There is no logic behind vaccinating animals which are already under serious stress due to long-distance travel. Standing all the way while they are transported from the interior areas of Punjab and Sindh, animals are fed and given water only when they reach their destination. If the CDGK is really interested in vaccinating animals, they should set up a quarantine facility at the entry points where animals should be kept for some period for vaccination,” said Shaukat Mukhtar of the Karachi Dairy Farmers Association.
Since the government was reluctant to reveal the generic name of the vaccine, dairy farmers were justified in assuming that poor quality or expired vaccines were being administered that could seriously endanger the animals’ health, he added.
“Administration of unbranded, poor quality vaccine can make our animals sick later. Who is going to pay for that?” he questioned, adding that the meat of these animals could also be harmful for human consumption.
The EDO agriculture was not available for comments.
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.