By Chito Chavez
An animal quarantine checkpoint has been set up in Barangay Bagong Silangan as the African swine fever (ASF) continues to strike public fear in the locality, Quezon City officials said Monday.
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte
(MAYOR JOY BELMONTE FACEBOOK / MANILA BULLETIN)
Mayor Joy Belmonte said the checkpoints will ensure that only safe meat products, particularly pork, are sold to the public in the wake of the ASF scare.
Aside from the quarantine checkpoints, the City Veterinary Office has routinely inspected the public and private markets in the city to ensure that pork and other similar items are safe for human consumption. Inspections on the city’s slaughterhouses were also intensified.
On Saturday, personnel of the QC Veterinary Office confiscated mishandled meat in Balintawak, Market.
Barangay and Veterinary Office personnel are manning the checkpoint on J.P. Rizal Street.
The entry of pork from other areas in the city is allowed provided that each delivery is covered by the required documents like the shipping permit, meat transport vehicle sticker, and veterinary clearance.
As the ASF continues to put a huge financial dent on piggery owners, hog raisers appealed to Belmonte to provide them compensation for the pigs culled.
At present, the city government is studying how much it can pay the hog raisers while Belmonte them of livelihood assistance.
“As standard protocol during an animal disease outbreak, hogs within the infected zones (Oriole Extension and Area 5) or within one-kilometer radius are automatically culled to prevent the ASF from infecting other animals in nearby areas,” Belmonte said.
“We assure residents that the local government is on top of the situation and doing everything it can to ensure that the pork being sold in our markets are safe for human consumption,” she said.