Kathmandu, April 28:

President of Nepal Veterinary Council (NVC), Bhavananda Thakur, today said the Council has almost completed a draft bill on Animal Welfare.

While addressing an interaction organised by Nepal Veterinary Association (NVA), on the occasion of World Veterinary Day, Thakur said law on animal welfare is mandatory now after Nepal entered into the WTO. “Nepal will not be eligible to export meat products unless law on animal welfare is enforced,” he said.

President of NVA, Braj Kishor Prasad Shah, said the ratio of veterinary doctors to animal population in Nepal is 1:72,000 while that of the para-vets to animal population is 1:18,000, which, he said, is very low as compared to other nations.

He said there are 442 veterinary doctors and some 6,300 para-vets in Nepal and the number is increasing with 32 doctors and some 3,400 para-vets every year. Shah claimed that the number of animal health workers would be insufficient for the next decade.

“The role of vet doctors is directly connected with the public health, animal rights, pharmaceuticals, teaching, research, livestock industry, rescue, security and explosive detection and others and not only with animal health,” he said.

Earlier in the morning, the NVA organised a rally from Veterinary Complex Tripureswor to mark the World Veterinary Day.