Over 1,600 beasts culled

MARANYANE NGWANAAMOTHO
Staff Writer | Tuesday June 28, 2011 00:00

 

Just over 1,600 of the 2,000 cattle targeted have been killed in the operation to control foot and mouth disease (FMD) in Zone 7 or the Mmadinare area.

The chief information and public relations officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, Boikhutso Rabasha, says the operation has been underway for over two weeks.

The animals are shot by veterinary officers in the forehead and then buried. 'We kill the animals in a humane way,' Rabasha says. 'Obviously we cannot give the meat to people. So we bury them.'

 P1,700 is given in compensation to cattle owners for each beast killed regardless of its age, sex and breed.

Rabasha concedes that this is an emotional exercise, especially for the cattle owners. Subsequently, they are discouraged from coming to the killing site. 'This is emotional for everyone,' she says. 'Therefore, social and community development officers (bo mmaboipelego) provide counselling for both the cattle owners and the veterinary officers.' Rabasha revealed that the ministry's permanent secretary and Director of Veterinary Services had recently been to Zimbabwe to offer to vaccinate cattle along the border in that country.

'The offer was made because the disease spreads from that side in most cases,' she said. 'They were receptive to the idea and we will see where we can go with it.' She said they were appealing to farmers not to hire herdsmen from settlements across the border because they go back and forth every day. Farmers should also report any livestock that strayed into Botswana from Zimbabwe and vice versa.

 'If farmers take cattle back from the Zimbabwean side without involving veterinary officers, there are very high chances that they will re-introduce the disease over and over again,' said Rabasha. The ministry is currently considering having a 10-kilometer buffer zone from the borderline to the nearest villages in Botswana to enhance control of cattle movements.

Fenced community farms are another measure that could be introduced. 'If there are fenced community farms, we will be able to tell exactly where the outbreak started and thus control it quicker because cattle movements will be restricted,' Rabasha said.