Poultry slaughter in Ho Chi Minh City: Many worries!

Many types of smuggled poultry slaughtering have not yet been quarantined, small slaughterhouses without permission . still exist in HCMC.

War abattoir

On October 30, we arrived at the Binh Hung Hoa cemetery area, which used to focus on buying and selling large-scale live poultry. 12 noon but only about 150m on Binh Long Street (P. Tan Quy, Q.Tan Phu) had more than 20 points of live poultry trade. Hundreds of chickens and ducks are displayed publicly in the street.

Seeing us stop the car, a sister 'advertised' the type of Western origin duck at 60,000 VND / pair. If you work on the spot, you will pay an additional 5,000 VND. After we nodded, she grabbed the duck's head, choked with the fur and then used the small scissors to poke at the roadside. After that, very quickly, she took the duck and ran into the grove of trees in the nearby wasteland. It turned out that inside the grove was a wild 'slaughterhouse'.

The 'Slaughterhouse' simply had a tin box on the fire with three clumps of bricks to boil duck feathers. The saleswoman picked up the straw (the type to drink water) stuffed into the throat of the secreted duck which blew slightly.'How to make duck skin stretch, easy to do' - saleswoman said. Next, she put ducks in a black, piggy-water tank. Very quick, she put the duck back on the ground, using her hairy hands.

As we observed, there were dozens of wildly-run "slaughterhouses" hiding in the roadside bushes. They were all messy and smelled bad.

Not only in this area, but in many markets, we were also invited to slaughter on the spot by people selling live poultry at prices of 2,000-5,000 VND / head.

Slaughterhouse: overload!

According to the District 5 Veterinary Station, in the past two months, every week, there have been unidentified poultry and duck stocking facilities with a number of dozens to hundreds.

In particular, on October 22, veterinary district 5 discovered a household on Nguyen Trai street (ward 14) stored more than 100 chickens (mainly chicken). When the veterinary asked to prove the origin of this type of chicken, the landlord had 'abandoned the running for people'.

One day near the end of October, more than 23g, on a long road less than 100m on Highway 50, Ward 5, District 8 (near District 8 bus station), there were nearly a dozen chicken trucks, ducks gathered in front of chicken stalls , duck. Many workers still take advantage of dinner on the sidewalk to prepare for slaughter. More and more late, more and more transporters of chickens and ducks arrive. After the vehicles were inspected by the District 8 Veterinary Station staff, the chickens and ducks were quickly rushed by high-lift workers on tricycles to pull to nearby slaughter facilities. .

Slaughtering activities in this area are most active from 0 am to 3 am. After slaughtering chickens are temporarily put in plastic bags, even put into small baskets to transport to packaging sites. A cadre of Ward 5 People's Committee frankly commented: 'The process and hygiene in slaughtering of these slaughterhouses is only average, some facilities are temporary'.

According to District 8 Veterinary Station, Ward 5 area only has six licensed slaughter operations. But because the market demand for poultry is so large, the slaughter houses are always operating at full capacity. On average, the amount of poultry transported here fluctuates at 3,500 to over 5,000 children / day and night, mainly from provinces such as Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Ba Ria - Vung Tau. Because slaughterhouses cannot meet the demand, many small slaughterhouses without permission also participate in slaughter.

Although there are 23 unlicensed slaughter households, some households have been administratively handled, confiscated poultry . but according to People's Committee of Ward 5, District 8, the thorough treatment is very difficult because this is a slaughter area. traditional. Some households find ways to respond by informing each other when there are inspection forces. Some households slammed the door when the urban order team arrived and then scooped the chickens away.

QUANG KHAI - YEN TRINH