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Thursday | 16 January 2025 | Epaper

Health risk from artificial cattle fattening

Published : Saturday, 18 July, 2020 at 12:00 AM  Count : 471
Md Zillur Rahaman
The sales of sacrificial animals have made momentum as the festival of Eid-ul-Azha is knocking on the door. The festival has immense contribution to meeting the protein demand and nourishment of poverty-stricken people. It brings unbelievable smiles on the faces of poor and the extreme poor who suffer from malnutrition as intake of meat is rare to them.

But it is a matter of regret that, during Eid-ul-Azha some unscrupulous cattle traders inject some banned steroid hormone into animals in order to fatten them. The traders are doing it to make more profits. Sacrificial cows become fat, because of the illegal use of steroid hormone, within a short period of time. Steroid hormone damages its kidney-liver and other vital organs. As a result the cells accumulate water, which fatten a cattle. Consequently, the animal suffers from different diseases.

Various antibiotics, growth hormones, steroids and other harmful chemicals are being widely used for fattening sacrificial animals. These drugs, mostly smuggled from India, are sold openly in the local shops in the absence of monitoring by government agencies. Ignorance among farmers about the proper use of steroid and profit-hunting addiction of the traders are major causes of this inhumane crime. Dexamethasone which is used to fatten cows is, in fact, meant to be used to accelerate the death process of an animal. Steroids such as Diclofenac, Oradexason, Steron, Decason, Adam Cortan, Cortisol, Hydrocortisol, etc are used for cow fattening with an excessive use of urea in fodder. So, there is a gang behind rearing and marketing of cattle to make more profit illegally.

Food and drug administration authorities of various developed countries have already banned these steroids for their adverse side-effects on human health. But these items, which are generally used for saving the lives of critical patients, are now being injected into cows, goats and other sacrificial animals to fatten them.
Under this unscientific fattening method, an animal is fed with 20 to 25 tablets and it creates abnormal pressure on kidney and other organs as the drug slowly affects the normal circulation of urine and within a few days the cattle looks fat. Interestingly, the rapid method of cattle fattening even may cause death of the animal within 20-25 days after giving the drug. On the other hand, about scientific cattle fattening method, which is called natural fattening system, the cattle is to feed right proportion of urea, molasses and straw daily for about six months.

In the light of fundamental principles of the sacrifice of animals, unnaturally fattened cow cannot be sacrificed and meat cannot be permitted to consume--because of being contaminated. These cows are being slaughtered and the infection is being transmitted to humans. The contaminated meat affects human kidneys, liver, lungs and other organs. It also destabilises hormonal balance of pregnant woman and damages the natural immune system. Even long-time boiling of such meat cannot reduce the poisonous effect. If meat of such infected animal is taken, the liver gets enlarged. The most awful changes will take place among children and women. Children will gain obesity at very early stage and they develop many diseases with high blood cholesterol. Consequently, health hazard causes burden on the medical treatment cost and the economy as a whole.

Unfortunately, the reality is that people are consuming such contaminated meat year after year during the period of Eid-ul-Azha knowingly and unknowingly. As a result, they have to spend money for treatment for the recovery of their newly developed diseases. The cows which look extremely fat and stand in one position, not moveable, are the symptoms of artificially fatten cows. People should not to buy such type of large and healthy cows because such cows are fattened through banned steroid.

According to an animal journal, greedy farmers had used tablets in 2012 to fatten 63.7 percent cattle, while a research conducted by the Bangladesh Agricultural University showed that 70.60 percent cattle were fattened in 2014 using steroids. The experts believe that the actual numbers, however, might be even more than the above figure.

Use of these steroids and hormones in animals are prohibited in the country according to the Animal Feed Act-2010. For violating this law, a person might face up to one year's imprisonment or up to Tk 50,000 in fine or both. But, the dishonest cattle farmers don't' bother that considering huge profit within short time. It should be stopped to avoid the health hazards. The authorities concerned should take initiative to tackle this malpractice to ensure that the meat of scarified cow does not put people under health risk.
The writer is a banker and freelance contributor





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