Sheep ingests China dor while grazing, dies
Amritsar, February 29
The deadly kite string or ‘China Dor’ is not just affecting humans but also the animals that have come under its lethal grip. In a recent case reported at Khalsa College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, a sheep died after ingesting Chinese string. The cause of death was confirmed after veterinary experts conducted a post-mortem of the sheep and the messy China Dor was found in its stomach, choking the poor animal to death.
KCVAS Principal Dr Harish K Verma said that upon post-mortem of the two-year-old female sheep that perished, it was found that while grazing outside at the farm grounds, the animal swallowed the mushy string that badly affected the rumen of the stomach. “Usually, the livestock and animals on our farms do not directly come in touch with Chinese string. But during routine grazing, the sheep might have ingested Chinese string that fell on the open ground while flying kites in residential colonies nearby. We noticed that the sheep seemingly did not appear to be well after returning to the farm, and after a while, it just collapsed.” He said that on further examination, it was found that the kite string/China Dor was entangled within the ingested feed which caused impaction of the rumen leading to respiratory distress and death of the animal. He said that their team of doctors headed by Dr Aditya Sharma, Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Pathology, KCVAS, has reported the matter to the authorities concerned.
The KCVAS principal said it was not the first case, rather two goats were also reported at their veterinary hospital, who had similar findings with impacted rumen and respiratory distress, all due to the Chinese string. He said the administration must take precautionary measures to implement ban on the sale of Chinese string.
Dr Verma said they have also issued an advisory to the farmers, especially sheep and goat-rearing farmers, to be watchful during the grazing of the animals. “They must look for such extraneous material leading to mortality in animals, putting a lot of stress and financial burden on the farmers,” said Dr Verma, adding that the government must strictly ban the sale of such string in the market which is dangerous to the life of animals and human beings as well.
This has become a grave concern year after year, especially during the month of January till March, as kite flying is prevalent and most of the time, sale of Chinese string goes unchecked despite the tall claims of the administration. According to several animal welfare organisations active in city, Amritsar reports almost three to four bird injury cases everyday due to Chinese string and last year, an endangered vulture species was killed after being injured by Chinese synthetic kite string.
