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| Pigs that tested positive for salbutamol were destroyed in Tien Giang Province. — Photo tuoitre.vn |
Viet Nam News
HÀ NÔI — The inspection team of the agriculture ministry has for the first time destroyed a herd of pigs in Tiền Giang Province that were fed with food containing salbutamol, a banned substance in animal feeding.
The animal herd belonged to Nguyễn Ngọc Lực, a farmer in Xuân Đông Commune, Chợ Gạo District, of Tiền Giang Province. The testing was conducted earlier this month after the Veterinary Unit of the province received information that the pigs had a high risk of salbutamol contamination. The test result came back positive.
Salbutamol is a substance that is not permitted to be used in animal breeding. The medication helps in the treatment of asthma, exercise-induced bronchospasm, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and high blood potassium levels, but is misused by farmers to stimulate growth in animals and make them lean.
This is the third time that Lực’s pigs were found to be salbutamol-contaminated.
The pigs were given anesthetic and transported to the place set up for destroying the animals.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in an effort to put an end to the use of salbutamol in animal breeding, has set up two round-the-clock working groups in the north and south to receive information about the matter. —VNS
