Animal Health Care

(A) Emergency Veterinary Services.

With a view to provide health coverage to the milch animals of the farmer members of the Panchmahal & Dahod districts, weekly veterinary mobile routes and emergency visit routes were initiated in 1982, and operated from Head quarter, Godhra and Subsequently from subCentre ,Lunavada.

Later on in 1989, veterinary Animal Health Care services were further decentralized and weekly veterinary mobile routes were discontinued and the organization of veterinary micro Centres started for offering quick emergency veterinary health care services, wherein 60 to 70 DCSs  falling within the radius of 15 kms from the centre, are covered under each veterinary microCentre. On each microCentre minimum two doctors are placed and equipped with motorbikes.

They receive the visit calls from these 60-70 villages and attend the same on the basis of seriousness of the case. The Panchmahal Dist. Co-op. Milk Producer’s Union was first to implement the veterinary microCentre concept, decentralizing the Animal Animal Health Care Services, to make the same faster and better.

All the Doctors are provided with the mobile telephone connection , ensuring their accessibility round the clock. The emergency visit calls are attended on an average within 4 hrs. of registration.

(b) Veterinary First Aid Services :

With the withdrawal of weekly mobile veterinary routes ,infrastructure for Veterinary First Aid Services at village level was strengthened and large nos. of village level first aid workers were trained to provide the First Aid Services to ailing animals at farmers’ door.

(c) Vaccination Services

For the prevention and control of diseases like Foot & Mouth Disease , Hemorrhagic Septicemia , Black Quarter and Theilariasis , mass vaccination campaign arranged every year.

Mass vaccination against Foot & Mouth Disease :- A vaccination campaign is arranged once in a year usually during December-January and the animals are vaccinated by trained village level vaccinators under the supervision of Veterinary Doctors. The first vaccination is performed at the age of 3 months then booster dose of vaccine at the age of 6 months and then every year. Oil adjuvant vaccine is used.

For the prevention and control of Haemorrhagic Septicemia (HS) and Black Quarter (BQ) diseases ; District Animal Husbandry department(Govt. of Gujarat) arrange vaccination with the active support of field staff and Village Dairy Cooperative Societies, affiliated to the milk union.

All the Crossbred cows are vaccinated against Theilariasis by the union veterinarians , as and when required.

(d) Mastitis Control programme :

For prevention and control of another infectious bacterial disease which can badly deteriorate the quality of milk and affect the human health , called mastitis , an antiseptic solution (either teat spray or teat dip ) is used and practiced by the farmers before and after the milking of cattle and buffaloes. The milk producer members are made aware about the importance of clean milk production.

(e) Animal Farm Cooling Unit :

To minimize the  adverse environmental stress and preventing the milk production losses in buffaloes , “ Farm Animal Cooling Unit systems” have been installed in cattle sheds by the progressive farmers, especially during summer.

(f) Mass Deworming Campaign :              

For the control of parasitic diseases in all age group of cattle and buffaloes ,milk union organize the Mass Deworming Campaign twice in a year ,before and after monsoon using medicated cattle feed .

The first dose of deworming should be given to calves after 10-15 days. Then at the age of one and three months and then regularly twice in a year.

(g) Milch Animal Census :

The milk union arranges for the animal census periodically in milkshed area, to have an idea about the status of animal population in relation to productivity and breeding. The data, thus collected form the basis of future planning. The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation provides technical and financial support for this activity.The summary report of the  last census is as under.