The prices of sacrificial animals for the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha, likely to be celebrated on September 12, may go up due to a shortfall of about 15 lakh heads of cattle in the country.
It is estimated that between 40 and 50 lakh heads of cattle would be required this year for sacrificial slaughter on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha, one of the two biggest festivals of the Muslims in the country. However, the department of livestock estimates that about 33 lakh cattles and buffaloes are currently available in the country for sacrificial purposes.
The recent floods have claimed many cattle in the northern districts in the char lands of the Padma and the Jamuna. Market sources said the tightening of border controls by the neighbouring countries over the last few months has also impacted on the supply.
The sacrificial animal market is likely to face the crunch because of the near-complete ban on exports and smuggling of heads of cattle to Bangladesh across the border by the Indian authorities.
 “A total of 33 lakh cattle and buffaloes is available for sacrificial purposes. Besides, about 72 lakh goats and sheep have also been made ready for Eid-ul-Azha. A total of 1.05 crore animals have been prepared for sacrifice on Eid,” Ajoy Kumar Roy, director general of the department of livestock, told The Independent yesterday.
There are some 4.90 crore animals in the country, of which 2.35 crore are cattle and buffaloes, he added.
According to sources in the tannery industry, a total of 1.60 crore animals was slaughtered last year. The figure was 1.55 crore in 2014–2015 and 1.36 crore in 2013–2014.
According to sources, despite the steps taken by mobile courts to stop the sales of cattle-fattening steroids and food, which are hazardous to human health, unscrupulous traders across the country are fattening up sacrificial cattle in the run-up to Eid-ul-Azha by injecting hormones and chemicals.
“We have zero tolerance for artificially fattened cattle. Our veterinary officers are continuously monitoring the matter at the field level,” he said in reply to a query.
A total of 1000 veterinary teams will be deployed at Eid-ul-Azha sacrificial markets to ensure the supply of healthy cattle. There were 494 such teams last year.
According to sources, many shops are selling steroids and other chemicals for illegally fattening cattle in the rural areas without drug administration licences.
Roy said that they have suggested to the drug administrators to monitor the use of steroids three months ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.
According to experts, consumption of the meat of artificially fattened cattle may cause diseases such as cancer, cardiac failure, and kidney-related ailments in humans.
Excessive consumption of steroids and hormones, such as dexamethasone or decason, betamethasone and periactin, damages the livers, kidneys, and intestines of cattle, they further said.
Prof. Abdus Samad, a member of the faculty of veterinary medicine of Bangladesh Agriculture University (BAU), said: "Steroids and hormones are used on a large scale to fatten cattle. They are not digested and enter the human body through cattle tissue."
Poison is being deposited in cattle tissue because of the mass-scale use of steroids, he stated, adding that there is no control over the use of hormones for fattening cattle.
The use of hormones and steroids for fattening cattle has been completely banned under the Animal Disease Control Act, 2010.