Ahead of Eid al-Adha, Distan Bandung Deploys 66 Animal Health Surveillance Officers for Sacrifices
JAKARTA - The Bandung Regency Agriculture Office (Distan), West Java, has deployed 66 medical and paramedic personnel to monitor the health of sacrificial animals ahead of Eid al-Adha in 1447 Hijriah.
Head of the Bandung Regency District, Ina Dewi Kania, explained that her party had collaborated with the Indonesian Veterinary Doctors Association (PDHI) and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Padjadjaran University (Unpad) for the examination.
"We have deployed 66 medical and paramedic personnel to monitor the health of sacrificial animals in Bandung Regency. Then we are not alone, it turns out that friends from PDHI and Unpad are also helping," he said in Bandung, Monday, quoted by Antara.
He said that the deployment of officers was carried out to anticipate contagious animal diseases, such as foot and mouth disease (FMD) and zoonosis, which have the potential to be carried over from livestock traffic ahead of Eid al-Adha.
He explained that the dozens of medical and paramedic personnel deployed would later be deployed to around 547 points of sale for sacrificial animals to conduct direct livestock health checks.
"Last year, there were about 547 stalls and farmers who were checked for animal health and the officers will be deployed to locations that are likely to be the same this year," he said.
To make it easier for the public to choose healthy sacrificial animals, his party has also prepared thousands of stickers and healthy sign labels that are installed on animals and stalls that have been inspected by officers.
The healthy label is affixed to the sacrificial animal mine as a marker that the livestock has been examined by medical and paramedic personnel and declared healthy and fit for sacrifice.
"If the animal is healthy, we will give it a sign in the form of a healthy label that is attached to the tank. That is a marker that the animal has been inspected by the officer and is declared fit to be sacrificed," he said.
Officers also affixed stickers on the sales booth containing information on the number of healthy animals, the number of sick animals, the time of inspection, to the name of the veterinarian who conducted the inspection.
Meanwhile, his party also predicts an increase in the number of sacrificial animals of around 10-15 percent so that the number of sacrificial animals slaughtered this year is estimated to increase from around 27,153 last year to around 29,868 to 31,231 this year.
"If you look at the trend in previous years, we predict that there will be an increase in sacrifices of around 10 to 15 percent this year," he explained.
On that occasion, he also said that the results of the previous year's examination showed that more than 95 percent of sacrificial animals sold in Bandung Regency were in good health and were worthy of being sacrificed.
His party hopes that the checking and data collection activities at various points of sale can run optimally and ensure that all sacrificial animals in circulation have met health and eligibility requirements.