Nikšić: Blockade of the highway if infected euthanized cows are not properly buried

After learning that euthanized infected cows were buried in Ljesko doli, the Bogetići Municipal Council held a meeting and invited the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Agriculture, Vladimir Joković, and the Director of the Directorate for Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Affairs, Vladimir Đaković, to urgently visit the mentioned location and make sure that the work was not done in the prescribed manner

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Photo: Svetlana Mandić
Photo: Svetlana Mandić
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.
Ažurirano: 07.09.2024. 14:52h

On September 5 and 6, euthanized cows suffering from kyu fever were moved and buried in another location from the Nikšić Municipality and, as announced by the Municipality of Nikšić, the work was done in accordance with the Law on Veterinary Medicine.

The new location is located in the town of Ljeskova dola, which belongs to the local community (MZ) Bogetići, and it is a plot of land owned by a private person who has given permission to bury euthanized animals on his land.

After learning that euthanized infected cows were buried in Ljesko doli, the Bogetići Municipal Council held a meeting and invited the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Agriculture, Vladimir Joković, and the Director of the Directorate for Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Affairs, Vladimir Đaković, to urgently visit the mentioned location and make sure that the work was not done in the prescribed manner.

They demand that the euthanized cows be moved to another location or properly buried, otherwise they announce the blockade of the main road Nikšić - Podgorica, in Bogetići.

"If they don't come and meet our demands, the residents of this area will be forced to go to Bogetići and demand their rights." There is great indignation among the locals, so I would like the authorities to come to us, to see how it was done and see how we will solve the problem, so that the main road Nikšić - Podgorica is not blocked. We hope that the authorities will respond immediately so that an even bigger problem does not arise", said the president of the Bogetići Municipal Council, Mijajlo Škuletić.

Skuletic
Skuleticphoto: Svetlana Mandić

Journalist teams visited the location where the cows are buried and which is reached by a very bad macadam road. On one part, you can see body parts of animal corpses, while the unpleasant smells are unbearable.

"Here you see how this was done," Council members protested.

"Trouble has befallen us. because on the territory of our local community, the local administration unloaded 45 dead cows and buried them in the place where, in the immediate vicinity, there are two cottages, Vučinić and Mrvošević, at about 50 meters as the crow flies, and three Banjević households are also close by, at about 500 meters airlines, which are engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry", said Škuletić while showing the aforementioned cottages and houses.

As he pointed out, no one consulted the Ministry of Health, and even though it is a private property, no one has the right to endanger the health of others, nor to destroy the environment.

"We are looking for an answer from the local administration, who made the decision to unload 45 dead cows on the territory of our local community. All this was done under the cover of night, without the knowledge of the locals and the Council of our Ministry of Health. "We are asking the relevant people to answer why the Council of the Ministry of Health serves, if no one from the local administration asks or consults it," said Škuletić.

A member of the Council of the Ministry of Health, Saša Ognjanović, asked what will happen to another 35 cows that are "preparing for euthanasia", and that, as he claims, is not the final number.

"To see and consider the issue of whether a natural person can legally sell or give land to a legal person for use, and thereby cause harm to the surrounding population. Here we have grit in Straševina and Kličevo, cows that were first in Župa, and now in Bogetići - it seems that we are playing chess on the territory of the municipality", said Ognjanović.

Ognjanović
Ognjanovićphoto: Svetlana Mandić

Momčilo Lalatović says that by bringing dead cows to his former katun, where he owns his property, the terrain is now polluted

"No one has made anyone from the local community permanent, but it was practically hidden, it was done overnight. For me, it is a criminal act," said Lalatović, who is a member of the Council of the Ministry of Health.

Lalatovic
Lalatovicphoto: Svetlana Mandić

Novo Gardašević, who lives in Nikšić, is engaged in cutting down the forest and says that twice a day he passes by the location where the dead necks are buried.

"I believe that if unpleasant odors from dead cattle are felt, it is difficult to pass that road anymore. I will have to leave the job I am doing. I find it impossible for buried throats to remain in that location. I spoke with inspector Slavica Sudža, who told me that everything was done professionally. "I heard from the locals that the dead cows were just washed away and buried and that the water will carry away the material from that place, which will be a big problem," Gardašević said.

Gardašević
Gardaševićphoto: Svetlana Mandić

The Municipality previously announced, adding that the veterinary inspector Slavica Sužum confirmed that the mentioned plot, in Ljesko doli, meets the conditions for the safe disposal of animal waste, and that the procedure for removing dead animals was carried out in accordance with the Law on Veterinary Medicine and under the control of the veterinary inspection.

The public informed the NGO "Zagrad Montenegro" about the case of infected euthanized cows, which were buried in the locality of Bunić in Župa, so that the NGO "Župa u srcu" would file a criminal complaint against the authorities due to, as they emphasized, an environmental incident in Župa. Political parties, the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), the Social Democrats (SD) and the Citizens' Movement URA, also spoke out, asking the authorities to investigate the entire case, while the DPS announced that the responsibility for the risk of spreading the infection, due to the disposal of euthanized cattle, on the mayor of the municipality, Marko Kovačević, the responsible secretary and director of Komunalno.

The Municipality then said that due to the urgency of the action and the request for assistance from the Directorate for Food Safety and Phytosanitary Affairs, there was an oversight because the location in Bunići is "under dispute and not formally owned by the state".

Summary: The entire procedure was carried out in accordance with the regulations

Slavica Sudžum, veterinary inspector, told "Vijesta" that the entire procedure was carried out in accordance with the regulations.

"I was personally there while it was being done and everything was done in accordance with the law. Disinfection of the place and the truck was also done, with the strongest disinfectants, regardless of the fact that here it is not a dangerous infectious disease, but an infectious disease, which has no tendency to spread", said Sužum.

According to her, during the selection of the location and the burying of the dead euthanized cows, care was taken to ensure that the cows met all the requirements prescribed by law.

According to her, in a conversation with the president of the Ministry of Health, she found out that bears often visit the mentioned area.

"I took the remarks seriously and ordered the Municipality of Nikšić that its services visit the site every other day. Already tomorrow, municipal teams will visit the site and additionally cover that part with soil and stone, as well as disinfect it. They will also visit the site several times during the week, because our goal is to do everything properly," said Sužum.

She pointed out that the video that was sent to her shows the tracks of a bear and that she does not rule out the possibility that the bear dug up the animal.

"That's why we will keep everything under control. As for the unpleasant smells, they must exist for a short period after the decomposition of the corpses. This is precisely why care is taken to ensure that the location is outside populated areas, industrial zones, main roads, as in this case done," said Sužum.

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