Slaughter, disposal of pigs with Ebola virus okayed

MALOLOS CITY , Philippines  – Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap has approved the procedure for the slaughter and disposal of 6,000 pigs infected with the Ebola-Reston virus in Pandi town, Bulacan.

Authorities have to present it to Bulacan Gov. Joselito Mendoza before it is implemented.

Dr. Joy Gomez, Bulacan provincial health officer, said the approved procedure involves the use of a stun gun and a caliber .22 gun to put the animals to sleep.

“The use of stun gun and caliber .22 is accepted in the Animal Welfare Act, which states that in killing animals, it should be painless,” she said.

Gomez said they have considered provisions of the Animal Welfare Act, Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act in adopting the procedure.

“The law speaks of the welfare of humans, then the environment and animals,” she added.

Gomez said the animal carcasses will be burned and buried in a pit 15 feet deep, 30 feet wide and 30 feet long.

“We want to be sure that when we solve the problem of Ebola-Reston, there will not be another hazard that will come out of it,” she said.

The pit was dug inside the hog farm in Pandi, which has been put under quarantine since the discovery of the Ebola-Reston virus in that town last December, Gomez said.

At Malacañang, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita assured the public yesterday that the Department of Agriculture and other concerned agencies are on top of the situation.

“Of course the directive to the DA has been there ever since,” he said. – Dino Balabo, Marvin Sy