A man is gored to death by his fighting buffalo at the Do Son Buffalo Fighting Festival 2017 in Hai Phong Province on July 1.
Hai Phong City People’s Committee on July 2 announced that they would halt the popular festival to investigate the possible use of stimulants by competing buffaloes.
A 47-year-old man died on July 1 after being attacked by his buffalo at the qualifying round which involved 32 fighting buffaloes.
Doubts have been raised over the use of stimulants in the competition.
The committee's spokesperson, Nguyen Kim Pha, told local media on July 2 that they have asked the authorities in Do Son District to conduct tests on the Buffalo 18 and all other buffaloes competing in the qualifying round for possible use of stimulants.
"We asked them to send the results before July 4," Pha said. "Buffalo 18 has been killed so we could take samples because it was very wild."
In a meeting with the Do Son District People's Committee on July 2, deputy minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Trinh Thi Thuy criticised the organising board of the Do Son Buffalo Fighting Festival 2017 for having no proper plans to deal with rising incidents.
"The organising board have explained this was a rare accident that has never happened before, but we think that safety regulations for the festival have not been well executed," Thuy stressed.
The deputy minister said they would gather opinions of the public and experts to consider whether to continue the festival in the coming years.
Many people, who have expressed their opposition against cultural festivals that involve fighting or slaughtering animals in Vietnam for their cruelty, have again called for a complete stop to the festival.
The festival has been recognised as a national intangible heritage since 2013, is listed among major cultural festivals by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
