Many slaughter houses in Long An Province have been taking to the practice of pumping water into cows before slaughter in order to increase the weight.
Pumping water into cows
One such slaughter house is Vu Ngoc, in Duc Lap Ha Commune. Here they pump cows with water until they are unconscious. Each night in Long An Province, between 350 and 400 cows are slaughtered, and most of the meat is consumed in HCM City. With the added weight from the water, each cow can be sold at a profit of VND4-6 million.
Since the administrative fines are less than the potential profits, slaughter houses are willing to commit commercial fraud, animal cruelty and put public health at risk. The practice continues despite the fact that animal health workers are mandated to supervise these operations.
A cow became unconscious while being pumped with water.
Phan Ngoc Chau, head of the Animal Health Department in Long An Province, admitted this to be an ongoing problem. Authorities have conducted several inspections and fined several slaughter houses. The fines range from VND3-6 million and are not enough to act as an effective deterrent.
Phan Ngoc Chau, head of the Animal Health Department in Long An Province, admitted this to be an ongoing problem.
"We'll inspect Vu Ngoc Slaughterhouse, but it's difficult to gather hard evidence of the practice. We'll also punish animal health worker if they deliberately overlook the problem," he said.
Chau also said the fines are too light. If a butcher shop is found to be selling water-infused meat, the meat must be converted to animal feed. However, there are no guidelines on where they should take the meat.