Ten (10) cattle that were illegally moved from a farm in Banket to Chinhoyi were destroyed over the weekend by the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS).
DVS destroyed the livestock as part of efforts to fight the spread of January disease, also known as Theileriosis.
The cattle only had police clearance but had no veterinary movement permit.
Under the Animal Health Act, farmers and livestock dealers need veterinary clearance to move livestock.
Department of Veterinary Services director Dr Jairus Machakwa on Sunday told The Herald that the illegal movement of cattle is undermining their efforts to combat January disease. He said:
For any livestock to be moved, we need a veterinary movement permit which proves that the animals have been cleared by the department and that it is safe to move them to another area.
As you might know, we have declared war against January disease, but this is being deterred by those illegal movements of livestock.
Farmers should know that each cow should get a veterinary movement permit for it to be moved.
That helps us to ensure that we do not spread disease from one place to the next.
It also helps us when we are having outbreaks to quickly control the outbreak and lift any quarantines that we would have imposed for disease control.
The law will be applied in all cases where animals are moved illegally.
This loss of animals is avoidable and farmers need to comply with the Law to avoid the destruction of their animals.
Theileriosis is common during the rainy season, that is, between December and March and is most prevalent in January hence the name January disease.
The disease is spread through the bite of an infected brown ear tick.