Despite health risks to consumers, an experimental pig-breeding center operated by the US-based Cargill group in Dong Nai Province disposed of pigs that had died from illness by selling them to traders instead of destroying or burying them, a Tuoi Tre investigation has found. On August 6, our correspondents saw a man named Dat carrying a swollen dead pig weighing 40 kg, swarming with flies, out of the center, located in Bac Son Commune, Trang Bom District, on a motorbike. Some days later another dead pig was taken to a building serving as a depot where dead pigs are disposed of pending their sale to Tran Thi Oanh, a pig trader in Vinh Tan Commune, Vinh Cuu District, Dong Nai Province. During the period of August 10-13, dead pigs were continuously taken from the company to the depot. After buying dead pigs, Oanh brings them to an illegal slaughterhouse in Binh Minh Commune, Trang Bom District. When there were a lot of dead pigs, she used trucks to carry them, instead of motorbikes.      In many cases, the sale of these dead pigs to Oanh took place in front of Vo Thanh Hai, the center’s head, who agreed to deals that posed health risks to consumers.  The price of a dead pig was anywhere from VND300,000 to VND500,000 (US$24), and the selling of dead pigs by the center has taken place since 2010 and continued until recently, when the practice was uncovered.Dismissal On September 5 Le Thi Phuong Hoa, head of the Division of Government Relations and Public Affairs of the Cargill Representative Office in Hanoi, said Hai had been dismissed and his wrongful acts were made known to all Cargill employees. The center was set up to introduce feed produced by Cargill to consumers, and the rate of pigs dying from diseases in the breeding center is equivalent to that in other centers owned by farmers in the area, Hoa said. The center’s offense has affected the business of not only Cargill Vietnam but also the group in general, Hoa said. Hoa emphasized that “this is a serious offense that shocked Cargill, which has always strictly enforced the group’s internal regulations and complied with Vietnamese laws.” Following this scandal, Cargill is considering shutting down the breeding center, Hoa added. Cargill Vietnam belongs to US group Cargill Inc, an international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services. The group operates in 65 countries and has more than 140,000 employees.