August 3, 2007

China's Hangzhou continues to buy dead poultry from its markets

The local government of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province in China would continue to buy Dead-on-Arrival (DOA) poultry from its market to prevent sellers from releasing it into the market. 

Two-thirds of the poultry in the two major markets in the city comes from other regions of China, thus increasing the likelihood that chickens would die during the long journeys, according to Qiao Lichun, a deputy director of a sub-branch of the animal husbandry and veterinary bureau.

The policy was introduced as a measure to prevent bird flu last year, according to Dai Qiping, Party secretary-general of the bureau in Hangzhou's Yuhang District.

Dai's bureau is responsible for supervising the East China Poultry Market and Chengbei Poultry Market, the major poultry and livestock suppliers to Hangzhou.

The two markets sells more than 40 million chickens, ducks and other poultry annually.

Last year, Dai's bureau collected 18,000 dead chickens at the two markets.

Previously, most DOA chickens would still be released into the market, according to a Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) report.

Through the government's buying of dead poultry from these two markets, the possibility of DOA chickens being sold at these places have been reduced to zero, Qiao said.

Hangzhou city government is planning to have all the dead poultry and livestock disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner in four years.