Another batch of 70 pigs injected with tranquilizers was discovered.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Animal Health has just discovered another batch of pigs injected with sedatives at the Hoa Phu slaughterhouse (Cu Chi district, Ho Chi Minh City), after the recent shocking incident of more than 3,700 "sedated pigs" at the Xuyen A slaughterhouse.

According to information from the specialized inspectorate, the Veterinary Department of Ho Chi Minh City, this unit has just destroyed a batch of 70 pigs that were found positive for sedatives. These pigs were declared by Mr. Nguyen Van Phung - owner of Hoa Phu slaughterhouse, to have originated from Ba Ria - Vung Tau province.

Previously, on October 10, Mr. Phung brought 70 pigs (weighing about 6.3 tons) to Hoa Phu facility for slaughter. Through clinical examination, the Ho Chi Minh City veterinary agency discovered that the pigs showed signs of being injected with sedatives such as fatigue, red body, closed eyes, dragging when moving... so they took three urine samples for testing. The test results showed that all three samples contained high levels of sedative residue.

Destroy sedated pigs.

After the test results were available, Mr. Phung voluntarily asked to destroy the batch of pigs that tested positive for sedatives. However, Mr. Phung said that this facility did not inject the pigs at the slaughterhouse, it is possible that the pigs were injected when they were caught at the farm or during transportation.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Trung, Deputy Head of the Veterinary Department of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, said that this unit had received "word of mouth information" from Ho Chi Minh City that a batch of pigs imported from Ba Ria - Vung Tau was found to be positive for sedatives.

However, the Veterinary Department of this province has not yet received any notification or request for coordination to resolve the matter from Ho Chi Minh City. Therefore, up to now, the veterinary sector of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province has not yet determined the specifics of the incident, at what stage the sedative injection was performed or how to resolve it...

The Ba Ria - Vung Tau veterinary sector will find a specific way to clarify the issue, not to cause public panic or affect livestock farmers. As for the Ho Chi Minh City Veterinary Department, this agency has sent a document to the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Veterinary Department requesting to verify and report the incident.

Ho Chi Minh City continues to discover another batch testing positive for sedatives.

Ms. Pham Khanh Phong Lan - Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Management Board commented that the recent cases of pigs being injected with tranquilizers show that the departments are taking strong action on issues related to food safety, "tightening" the inspection and control from the farming and slaughtering stages to the distribution to the market.

“Previously, veterinary officers have discovered many cases of pigs being injected with tranquilizers and fed antibiotics, not just now. However, the practice of letting unsafe pigs into the market still occurs. This proves that there are still many loopholes in management and control. It is time for us to take stronger measures and gradually eliminate dirty food,” said Ms. Lan.

According to Dan Viet Newspaper