THOOTHUKUDI: Lamenting that seasonal diseases have spread among livestock, the farmers in interior villages of Vilathikulam, Ettayapuram and Pudur areas have demanded the authorities to conduct special medical camps for the cattle. Farmers said the monsoon season affects them the worst as their livestock contract fever, cough, foot and mouth disease, blue tongue disease, and stroke from grazing on wet grass.
"We witness several goats and sheep dying daily during the rainy season. Making matters worse, the veterinary dispensaries do not have adequate stock of medicine as they have to cater to a large influx of sick cattle. In case of distant places, the farmers may not be able to transport the sick cattle to hospitals. So they themselves provide medicines and injections to the animals without any doctor's advice. If it was one or two goats getting sick we could have managed, but several hundreds of animals are taking ill at once," the farmers said.
Karisalboomi Vivasayigal Sangam president Varadharajan said the state government should take steps to conduct medical camps for cattle in interior villages. "Awareness programmes should also be conducted on how to control the spread of diseases during the monsoon season," he added.