Ehsanul Haque Jasim :A deep concern is growing among the people over artificial fattening of sacrificial animals, especially the cattle, ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha, as they are being fattened by applying toxic chemical and other deadly drugs. It was alleged that some unscrupulous traders are allegedly using the chemical as well as the banned drugs in a bid to earn extra money in a short time posing a serious threat to the public health. According to experts, people can lose functioning of their kidneys, liver, heart and many other important organs by eating beef of these artificially fattened animals. Alongside with the use of tablet, a section of traders are also using various kinds of banned injections and steroid (one kind of hormone group medicine) such as Dexamithason, Cortisol, Bitamithason, Hydrocortison and Ciproheptadine to fatten the sacrificial animals, sources said. The experts termed the injected and drug-applied animal as silent killer which extinguishes the human life gradually. Dr Siddikul Islam, a Professor of Sylhet Agriculture University, said that consumption of meat of the fattened animals poses serious health risks for humans. Kidney, liver and other organs of the human body can be damaged if the beef of drug-applied animals are eaten. The outbreak of cancer and some other incurable diseases can also be seen, while the heart can be damaged permanently, he said. Dr Islam said that drug applied animals are not only silent killers for the human being, they are also harmful for the animals too. Meanwhile, the High Court on Monday directed the government to form a body of experts, which will make recommendations to stop excessive use of steroids and hormones to fatten up the sacrificial animals. The government will have to form a seven-member committee within eight weeks. The experts will have to submit their recommendations and guidelines before the HC within eight week since its formation.The HC divisional bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Mohammad Ullah passed the order following a writ petition filed by Advocate Manzil Morshed on behalf of Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh.Secretaries of home, commerce, health and food ministries have been made respondents to the rule. They have been asked to include in the committee food expert, doctor, veterinary doctor, nutritionist, health expert and two representatives of the ministries concerned. Counsel of the petitioner Manzill Murshed said that the government had already deployed medical teams at cattle markets to examine the presence of steroids in the bodies of cattle, buffalos and goats. The Ministry for Fisheries and Livestock has taken the decision. The same kind of service will be provided in the upazila and district level major cattle markets across the country.Chief Veterinary Officer of Department of Livestock ABM Shahidullah said that farmers feed cows proportions of a mixture of urea, molasses and straw (UMS) daily for about 4 to 5 months. But a section of unscrupulous people allegedly use hormones and steroids to fatten the cattle quickly to make large profit ahead of Eid, which is illegal under the Animal Feed Act 2010.The officer said that these numbers are very small. He added that around 2000 field officers across the country actively monitor the fattening process round the year. But the monitoring has been strengthened this year, he said. This year, he said, the process of fattening animals began four to five months ago. On August, a mobile court of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) unearthed an illegal veterinary medicine factory, named ‘Life Agrovet Bangladesh Ltd’ in the city and fined three people, including its managing director, a total of Tk 4 lakh,The mobile court also sealed off the factory and destroyed a huge quantity of unauthorized medicines, which included Hamogen and Derma Spray, two types of antibiotic injections, Tolmic 2.5% for use as pain killer, and injections LD-Phos and Multivit-Forte for fattening cattle.Besides the markets of Dhaka, the cattle-fattening drugs and injections are also widely used in Chuadanga, Jhenidah, Nilphamari, Barisal, Faridpur, Manikganj and some other districts, it was alleged.
