Poultry farmer accuses vet of killing 6,000 chicks

Threatens to file suit against the accused if proved guilty.

MANSEHRA:

A poultry farmer has accused a veterinary doctor of killing 6,000 chicks by administering wrong medicine to them and in turn causing him a huge loss.

Malik Amin, who owns the Malik Poultry Farm, told media on Wednesday that a batch of 6,000 chicks was ready to be sent to the market when some of them contracted an unknown disease. As a result, they stopped eating.

He took one of the ailing chicks to the vet, who he said, initially claimed there was nothing wrong with them. However, as more chicks fell ill, the vet administered some medicine to them, after which all of them died within a day. Malik estimated the loss at Rs2 million and accused the vet of mishandling the case.

He said he would take the dead chicks for a laboratory examination, and if the vet was found to be at fault, he would file a suit against him. Furthermore, he demanded inquiry and compensation for his loss from the local vet authorities.

“The flock was my last hope for clearing the debt which I owe to my friends and family members,” he lamented.

When approached for comments, the vet was not available in his office. Mansehra district houses the country’s biggest poultry industry from where tonnes of poultry products are exported down country daily.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th, 2012.