- Dr Kibore noted that two individuals have been arrested in the Githunguri constituency, Kiambu County while operating and handling veterinary drugs without valid practising licenses from KVB.
- Dr Kibore said that the Board is working together with the Veterinary Medicine Directorate to ensure that all veterinary medicines are handled by professionals only.
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The Kenya Veterinary Board (KVB) has kicked off a campaign to weed out fake vets operating in the country.
The Board is also conducting a countrywide enforcement exercise to ensure that all professionals in the practice are compliant.
This is after the practice was worryingly infiltrated by quacks operating as vets.
Dr Benson Kibore, the Director in charge of compliance, enforcement and market surveillance at the Kenya Veterinary Board, said that the ongoing crackdown has revealed that quacks are trading and handling very sensitive veterinary medicine including Category One and Two drugs like sedatives used to bring down animals.
Speaking during the exercise at Kamwangi town in Gatundu North, Dr Kibore noted that two individuals have been arrested in the Githunguri constituency, Kiambu County while operating and handling veterinary drugs without valid practising licenses from KVB.
He also noted that five shops have been shut by the Board for trading in veterinary drugs without adhering to the set rules and regulations, adding that more rogue and fake vets will be rounded up as the crackdown intensifies across the country.
He reiterated that the exercise is aimed at ensuring that there is compliance with the practice and mapped out all practitioners warning that anyone found practising without a valid practising License from the Kenya Veterinary Board will be dealt with as per the provisions of the Veterinary Surgeons and veterinary professionals Act.
“The board is charged with regulating the practice in the country including dispensing veterinary medicine. Anybody who dispenses medicine contrary to the code of ethics will be dealt with as per the law,” he said.
Dr Kibore said that the Board is working together with the Veterinary Medicine Directorate to ensure that all veterinary medicines are handled by professionals only.
He quipped that the Board will intensify the raids to ensure that only professionals remain in the practice and handle the veterinary drugs.
He at the same time raised concerns that most veterinary medicine that farmers have been accessing and administering to their livestock has been putting public health at peril, especially through animal products including meat, eggs and milk.
“The foods are laced with harmful residues which affect public health systems,” he said.
The Director averred that the move to enhance professionalism in the practice is also aimed at improving market access to farmers’ products including milk and meat.
He noted that Kenya fails to shine in animal products exports due to high residue levels in the products.
“We have meat and milk with a lot of residues. The drug residues affect the country’s standing internationally. We cannot export,” Dr Kibore said.
He also averred that KVB is also seeking to protect the public from anti-microbial resistance which he said largely emanates from high residue levels in animal products.
“We want to protect members of the public. Animal drugs are almost the same as those used by humans, the only difference is the concentration. When we have cases of misuse and abuse then we slide into antimicrobial resistance,”
Dr Kibore at the same time warned farmers against administering veterinary drugs to their animals saying that it is tantamount to being a quack and risks being arrested and charged.
“We will also follow the person who sold you the drugs and prefer charges to them," he said.
He called on all veterinary professionals to ensure that the premises they are offering their services are compliant adding that they must observe and maintain high moral and ethical standards.
Dr Lynn Dorris Namalome, a veterinary inspector at KVB urged farmers to ensure that their animals are attended to by qualified veterinaries and ensure that the practitioners are recognized and retained by the board with a valid retention card and valid practising licensing.
She warned that relying on quack vets is risking their livestock’s well-being as well as putting their lives in jeopardy.