Install 40 surveillance cameras at pig slaughterhouse

40 cameras were installed for surveillance, slaughterhouse owners (those who rent slaughterhouses) signed a commitment not to use sedatives, and pig transport drivers were responsible for the quality of the pigs before they entered the slaughterhouse.

That is one of the measures that the Xuyen A slaughterhouse (Cu Chi) has taken to prepare for reopening after the discovery of a batch of 3,750 pigs injected with tranquilizers.

On the morning of October 22, at the Xuyen A slaughterhouse, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Tham, the owner of this facility, worked with dozens of pan owners to disseminate the new regulations of the slaughterhouse and have the pan owners sign commitments.

Ms. Tham (left) works with the owner of the pan on implementing new regulations to ensure pork quality control at the furnace.

Accordingly, the commitment clearly states the responsibilities of traders and pan owners such as not using sedatives or any prohibited substances for pigs when slaughtering, not injecting water into pigs, and voluntarily committing to destroy all pigs if they are contaminated with any prohibited substances...

The kiln owner committed to upgrading the facility, spreading lime, laying tiles on the floor, and only signing contracts with registered kiln owners...

In addition, according to Ms. Tham, Xuyen A slaughterhouse will require drivers transporting pigs to sign a commitment every day and take responsibility for the pigs they transport, otherwise the slaughterhouse will not accept the pigs.

"The driver is the one who follows the batch of pigs from the farm to the slaughterhouse. More than anyone else, they must know the quality of this batch of pigs," Ms. Tham affirmed.

Regarding traders, Ms. Tham said she will publicize and force traders to sign a commitment similar to the pan owner.

In case of non-signing, the unit will report to the authorities and cancel the pan rental contract if it receives this trader's pig.

40 cameras were installed by Xuyen A at the pig storage pen.

Ms. Tham said that Xuyen A has completed the installation of 40 cameras in the pig import areas and storage pens (awaiting slaughter) to ensure that this stage is monitored 24/7.

Here, all data is transmitted to the veterinary unit in charge at the farm. In case of problems with pigs, the unit has a basis to assign responsibility to individuals and stages.

During the discussion, most of the pan owners agreed with the new regulations. However, according to one pan owner, the use of banned substances is partly due to the habit of buying beautiful meat of users.

According to Ms. Tham, in the case of being allowed to reopen, Xuyen A slaughterhouse will only accept pigs from 7/20 pans at the slaughterhouse that have pigs that were not infected with tranquilizers recently. In the remaining cases, Ms. Tham said that pigs will only be accepted after 3 months (from September 29) in accordance with the instructions of the authorities.

Lime is sprinkled around the slaughterhouse for disinfection.

Waiting for investigation results

Mr. Pham Tien Dung, head of the inspection department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Department of Veterinary and Aquatic Products, said that if only based on the foot and mouth disease epidemic, the Xuyen A slaughterhouse could be allowed to reopen at this time.

However, Mr. Dung said that the closure of this slaughterhouse was related to the injection of sedatives, so it was necessary to wait for the investigation results of the authorities.

"We need to see if the owner of this slaughterhouse is helping traders inject sedatives. If there is collusion, it should be reconsidered and even closed down," said Mr. Dung.

Thousands of pigs were found injected with tranquilizers before slaughter.

According to Mr. Dung, the fact that the pig farm owner sets regulations and requires traders to make commitments is positive. However, there must be at least three-party supervision: pig owners, facility owners and veterinary forces. If there is a violation, the veterinary force will rely on this commitment to handle it strictly, but if they sign it, nothing will be solved.

In addition, Mr. Dung said that there needs to be coordinated involvement from the police, market management, and the Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Department to monitor everything from farmers to meat samples at the market because many stages can create "dirty" meat.

According to Tuoi Tre Newspaper