Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee: Shameful when buffaloes and cows are roaming freely on the streets in a class I urban area

(Baonghean.vn) - "Many people called me, saying what kind of first-class urban area is this, with cows roaming freely all over the streets. It's very embarrassing!" - said Mr. Nguyen Hoai An - Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee.

» Herding buffalo and cows on the most beautiful avenue in Nghe An

The situation of buffaloes and cows roaming freely on city streets has become a difficult problem to solve, and was discussed at the Conference on ensuring traffic safety, security, order, and environmental sanitation before, during, and after the Lunar New Year 2018, organized by the Vinh City People's Committee on the morning of December 29.

The head of the city government expressed his indignation at the problem of cattle and buffalo roaming freely. He said that a typical example is Lenin Avenue - the gateway to the city, the road that regularly welcomes and sees off delegations from other provinces and countries, but the cattle and buffalo just walk in the middle of the road, which is very offensive. "When welcoming guests, the traffic police have already cleared the road and divided the traffic, and they also have to take on the additional task of clearing... cows!" - Mr. An frankly said.

Cows graze freely, walking leisurely in the middle of Lenin Avenue. Photo: Archive

Many wards and communes where buffaloes and cows roam freely on the streets acknowledge the above situation, but at the same time also say "punishing cows is very difficult"!

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Manh - Chairman of Vinh Tan Ward People's Committee said: "For many years, Vinh Tan Ward has been notorious for letting cows roam freely on the streets. We have also applied many measures but to no avail."

According to the Chairman of this ward, there are currently 3 households raising cattle with about 100 cows in the ward. The ward has repeatedly propagated, reminded, and punished the owners, even directly confining the cattle if they are left unattended on the streets, however, the penalties are too low, not enough to deter.

Currently, according to regulations, the owner is only fined 80,000 VND if they let their cattle roam freely; but if they confine cattle, they face difficulties in terms of confinement location, caretakers, feed, etc. "We have fined some households up to 3 times, after which they "learned their lesson" and did not come to receive their cattle anymore. In the case that the ward confines the cattle and they die, it will be very troublesome" - Mr. Nguyen Hoang Manh frankly shared.

A similar situation occurred in Hong Son Ward. Nguyen Tien Dat, Chairman of Hong Son Ward People's Committee, said that at one point the ward had imposed a fine of up to 1.2 million on households raising free-range livestock, but they still reoffended. The ward chairman suggested that it was time to implement stronger, more drastic solutions.

After listening to the presentations of the ward and commune leaders, the Chairman of the Vinh City People's Committee proposed a solution for departments and offices to study and advise on, and if it is in accordance with legal regulations, it will be piloted. According to Mr. Nguyen Hoai An, it is possible to promote the role of the Rapid Response Team on Urban Order. When there are buffaloes and cows roaming freely, the wards and communes coordinate with the members of the Team, use tranquilizer guns and then transport them to the Social Labor Center - where the garden area is suitable for grazing cattle. When capturing and locking up ownerless cows, the wards and communes widely announce on the media for the cow owners to come and claim them. If they are not claimed within the prescribed time, they will be destroyed.

Mr. Nguyen Hoai An also emphasized many times that in order to apply this solution, it is necessary to carefully study legal regulations to see how to handle and destroy ownerless livestock.

Phuoc Anh