Year: 2018 | Month: February | Volume 11 | Issue 1
A Study on the Level of Awareness and Knowledge on Carcasses and Animal Waste Disposal among Farmers in Puducherry Region
Abstract:
Carcass and animal waste disposal are a vital part of livestock and poultry rearing and its improper disposal can cause the spread of diseases among animals and from animals to humans. A structured, pre-tested and peer-reviewed questionnaire containing both open and close ended questions on various aspects of zoonotic diseases, i.e., awareness, knowledge, risks, animal waste disposal, personal hygiene etc., were was used to interview 250 respondents from Puducherry. The attitude towards disposal of aborted foetus and retained placenta was 60.8% of the farmers tie to tree, which they consider as a belief followed from generation to generation implicating that tying the retained placenta to the branches of the milk secreting tree, will indirectly increase the milk secretion of the lactating cow or does. Although 31.3% of the farmers buried their aborted foetus and retained placenta, it indirectly indicated the awareness towards zoonosis in them. And the rest 10% of the people were disposing the placenta improperly. In diarrhoeic animals’ cases, about 40.9% of the livestock owners used water as a cleaning agent to clean their shed. With respect to dead animal carcass disposal, 67.6% of the farmers were burying their animals due to the knowledge toward zoonosis among livestock owners. About 28.4% sell their dead animal carcass for slaughtering for meat which is an offence and 4% were improperly disposing the carcass. From our present study it is concluded that the farmers need proper education towards the importance of waste disposal and its impact, both on their health and their animal health. The government requires better enforcement of existing policies aimed at environmental preservation and a lookout on the zoonotic diseases as a one health aspect.
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