05 September 2005
Cattle culled in Qinghai
(RFA) According to residents and a local veterinary official of Rebkong County (Chin. Tongren), the Chinese authorities in Qinghai have slaughtered cattle belonging to Tibetan villagers after a "mysterious cattle disease" was found in the region. RFA quotes a government official as saying that "a total of 170 cattle were killed through injection and their remains buried". The disease is likely to be foot-and-mouth. Officials are said to have handed out flour bags to villagers as compensation, giving four bags to families who lost cattle, and two each to families who did not.