Photo: Messenger
Farmers are now busy fattening cows ahead of Eid-ul-Adha. Many marginal farmers are injecting toxic chemicals into the bodies of cows in the hope of more profits. They are injecting excessive doses of dexamethasone, betamethasone and cyproheptadine on the advice of local inexperienced doctors. Due to this, the function of the kidney and liver of cows is damaged and water cannot get out of the body. As a result, cows look big. The use of these steroid-like chemicals makes cows look fat, but the amount of meat does not increase much.
Animal researchers say that cows often die due to kidney and liver damage after being injected with steroid-like substances. In addition, eating beef from cows fattened with chemicals can cause various diseases in the human body due to the direct impacts of harmful steroids. The liver, kidney, heart, and brain can be damaged, the skin may lose its normal condition, and there could be hormonal diseases.
Among the fattened cows, Pabna breed, Australian-Fijian breed, Indian Haryana breed, Pakistani Sahial breed, and Hematopin are more common. Besides, there is the local breeding system known as the local crossbreed. Although farmers rear cows all year round, they target Eid for more profit. That is why they pay more attention to fattening cows before the festival.
Local inexperienced veterinarians give various suggestions to farmers to take advantage of fattening. They start injecting various chemicals into cows by highlighting the advantage of fattening in a short time. Many farmers feed cows with pills hoping to get quick results. Allegedly, these pills are illegally imported from India and Pakistan and are sold at various drug stores and cattle feed shops.
Animal experts say that fattening cows with feed as per the approved formula does not make their meat harmful. But the meat of cows fattened with steroids is harmful. Steroids are mainly used to treat asthma. If such drugs are applied in excess, water cannot drain from the cow’s body due to the loss of kidney and liver function. The water gets absorbed and stays in the meat. As a result, cows look fat.
Director (Research) of Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI) Nasrin Sultana told The Daily Messenger that natural fattening of cows has been in use for ages and thousands of unemployed youths are becoming self-reliant by fattening cows naturally after receiving training from the Department of Youth Development and the Department of Livestock Services.
“The Department of Livestock Services advises cattle farmers to feed cows with 2-2.5kg of specially processed urea, laligur, and a special mixture of hay. The mixture should be stored in a sealed container for eight days and dried in the sun before feeding it to cows. If it is fed for three months, cows become fat very quickly,” she said.
“However, on the advice of some veterinarians, bergafat and biomingo are being mixed with feed for quick fattening. This can cause serious damage. Many cows have even become sick and died,” she added.
There is an organisation called Samaj and Jati Gathan in Dhamrai. It buys cows and distributes them among farmers every year after Eid-ul-Adha under the microcredit scheme. It has distributed more than 5,000 cows this time. Its Director Abdul Mateen told The Daily Messenger that many farmers use steroid drugs on cows without realising their harmful effects. “As a result, they suffer losses when cows die due to kidney and liver failure. I discourage farmers in my organisation from using steroids.”
KBM Saiful Islam, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University’s dean of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine Faculty and also chairman of the Department of Medicine and Public Health, told The Daily Messenger that various injections of dexamethasone group of steroid items are commonly used in fattening saleable cattle in the country while urea is also fed.
“A variety of high-dose vitamin mixtures are also given orally. As a result, cows are affected. At some point, the normal function of the kidney and liver is damaged and the cow dies. Many farmers have suffered huge losses as cows have died due to the use of such chemicals without proper knowledge,” he said.
Stating that the trend of cow fattening increases before Eid-ul-Adha, he also said consuming steroid-containing meat can cause various problems in the human body. His advice to farmers is to stay away from this activity in the hope of more profit. “It is possible to make profits if animals are reared naturally.”
Messenger/Disha
