Russia: Disappearing pigs escape ASF cull
In the areas of the recent outbreaks of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the Krasnodar region about 1,100 pigs have simply disappeared.
The pig stock was confiscated from farms but has not been destroyed. Officials are saying that farmers are hiding their pigs from the authorities, not wanting their animals to go to the meat processing plants. Farmers, however, are saying that their pigs have been seized and taken to market.
The disappearance of pigs was uncovered after the inspection carried out by specialists of the regional department of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, Rosselkhoznadzor.
It was revealed that the decision to eliminate all pigs in the first ASF-threatened zone of the recent outbreaks had not been carried out. There were significant differences between the numbers of pigs taken from the farmers, and the number of pigs culled.
Rosselkhoznadzor checked six areas of the Krasnodar region and found that about 1,100 pigs, and thus potential carriers of ASF, had disappeared.
Number of pigs having escaped culling:
Korenovskii district: 135
Ust-Labinsk district: 19
Krasnoarmeiski district: 451
Yeiski district: 547
Bruhovetsky district: 22
Seversky district: 12
Similar inspections in other regions are already underway, and experts are almost certain that the figure of absent pigs will be significantly higher.
Confiscations continue
The Krasnodar region is currently undergoing the confiscation of its pig population from the farms with a low level of biological security protection. According to the resolution of the governor of the region, such farms have to sell their livestock by 1 October. No-one knows what will happen if the farmers fail to achieve this.
Initially it was assumed that the removal would be only carried out on private farms with low numbers of livestock, but now 69 large pig companies with complexes have been added to the list of farms with low levels of biological defense.
“Within a month 69 pig complexes with low levels of veterinary protection must either invest in increased biological security, or stop working,” said Edward Kutygin, vice-governor of Krasnodar administrative region.
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