SAFE MEAT. Dr. Lani Bautista, chief of the Provincial Agriculture Office's livestock and poultry division, advises on Saturday (August 24, 2019) that hogs need to be butchered at slaughterhouses to ensure these are free from any disease before consumption. Dr. Darel Tabuada of the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO), meanwhile, assured that the province is free from African swine fever. (PNA Photo by Gail Momblan)
ILOILO CITY -- The Iloilo Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO) on Saturday warned against backyard slaughtering as hogs need to be inspected first before being butchered for consumption.
Dr. Lani Bautistaa, chief of the PAO livestock and poultry division, in a phone interview, said backyard slaughtering prevents proper inspection of veterinarians.
“It is advisable for hogs to be slaughtered in slaughterhouses because it will need to undergo inspection, to know that it is healthy,” she said.
Hogs that were processed in slaughterhouses have safety nets and marking that would assure the public that the meat is safe for consumption once sold in markets.
Bautista said some of the people in the province resort to backyard slaughtering to avoid “added cost” imposed by slaughterhouses. She also admitted that municipalities still lack the facilities.
To address this, she said meat inspectors are deployed in public markets to confiscate meat found unsafe for consumption.
Meanwhile, Dr. Darel Tabuada of the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO), assured in a separate interview that the province is free from African swine fever (ASF).
“We have not received cases of pig mortality from our backyard farmers,” he said.
The PVO coordinates with every municipal agriculture office, specifically through livestock technicians, to monitor pigs' conditions.
He said the province had recently recorded only a few animal diseases because of the changing weather.
Among these are “mostly positive or suspected” Ephemeral fever on cows and carabaos in Alimodian town and some farm animals also contracted respiratory diseases.
“These diseases were contained. Our livestock technicians are ready and they know what to do when these diseases occur,” he assured.
Tabuada said ruminants like cow, carabao, and goats are mostly raised In Iloilo’s first district while swine and poultry are common to almost all parts of the province. (PNA)
