Regional News of Wednesday, 3 February 2016

Source: GNA

Veterinary officers to embark on cattle vaccination

Dr Kwadwo Obeng-Wiredu, Accra Metropolitan Veterinary Health Director of the Veterinary Service, has appealed to cattle farmers in the Accra metropolis to cooperate in the vaccination exercise that would start from June to September this year.

He asked the cattle farmers to obey the by-laws on stray animals by keeping their cattle in the kraals to make it easy for the veterinary officers to vaccinate them.

Dr. Wiredu made the appeal when he addressed stakeholders in farming including cattle farmers in Accra on Tuesday.

He noted that the straying of animals in the Metropolis had contributed to insanitary conditions in Accra.

Dr. Wiredu said: “If you leave the animals to stray they end up contracting disease and the treatment is very expensive, hence the need to confine them for health examination and vaccination.”

He urged cattle farmers to form cooperative so that they could access assistance from non-governmental organizations.

He called on the farmers to be proactive to animal diseases for prompt attention from veterinary officers.

Mr. Maxwell Odonkor, Metropolitan Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) said agricultural students would be engaged to undertake the massive vaccination of the animals in the Metropolis.

He said series of meetings have been held with crops and poultry farmers to ensure sufficiency in food production in the Accra areas.

Mr. Samuel Aryee, a Director of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) urged the cattle farmers to come out with solutions to make Accra clean and beautiful as a Millennium City.

He directed sub-metros in Accra to arrest and prosecute offenders who allow their animals to stray so as to prevent the menace that they created in the areas.