VietNamNet Bridge – The city has confiscated tonnes of dead pigs that have been transported with no quarantine certificates, HCM City veterinary officials have said.

Photo baohaiquan

On May 9, the Thu Duc Animal Quarantine Station in HCM City, in cooperation with traffic police, seized more than one tonne of dead pigs being transported from Dong Nai Province to the city.

Last Saturday, the city's Animal Health Division announced that three samples taken from the dead pigs tested positive for blue-ear disease (also known as a porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus) and a hog cholera virus.

The quarantine station has uncovered a total of 117 incidents of illegal livestock transport this year, according to its head Dang Thi Tuyet.

Trucks were usually used to transport dead animals from northern and central provinces to HCM City for sale, Tuyet said.

Most of the trucks carried dead suckling pigs from central provinces such as Binh Dinh and Quang Ngai, she said.

On Sunday, the station confiscated 84 dead pigs and 14 dogs weighing a total of 1.04 tonnes. Seventeen of the pigs, all of them transported by a bus, were decomposing.

The driver, who failed to show any documents related to the animals, said they came from Binh Dinh Province.

In another case on May 12, officials at Binh Thanh Veterinary Station in HCM City discovered a vehicle carrying 190 kilos of pig breasts. The breasts, stored in six boxes, were rotting and had a bad smell.

On April 2, the HCM City Veterinary Division incinerated a total of 1.2 tonnes of suckling pigs that had had experienced severe haemorrhages.

The animals, which had been transported from Quang Ngai Province, were on their way to Dong Nai Province.

Source: VNS