Illegal Oxytocin Use Raises Dairy Safety Concerns

A crackdown by Hyderabad Police and Telangana’s Drugs Control Administration (DCA) has exposed an illegal network supplying restricted oxytocin injections to dairy farmers for artificially increasing milk production in buffaloes, raising fresh concerns over animal welfare and milk safety.

Authorities arrested cattle feed shop owner Attheni Krishna from Tukkuguda after seizing 173 oxytocin injections worth around ₹50,000 during a raid conducted by the Shamshabad Zone Task Force. According to investigators, the injections were sourced illegally from Gujarat at around ₹50 per bottle and sold to dairy farmers for ₹250-300 per bottle for misuse in milch animals.

Police said the hormone was being used to force buffaloes to release more milk, despite strict restrictions under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. Earlier on May 7, 2026, DCA officials also raided two fodder shops in Patancheru, Sangareddy district, where 40 unlabelled 200 ml bottles and 120 unlabelled 250 ml bottles of suspected oxytocin stock were seized from unlicensed premises.

Veterinary experts warned that repeated oxytocin use can lead to reproductive complications, uterine stress, mastitis, reduced fertility and hormone dependency in cattle. Health experts also raised concerns over possible human health risks linked to milk from animals administered synthetic oxytocin, including early puberty risks, hormonal imbalance and pregnancy complications, although regulatory authorities noted that scientific consensus on residue-related health effects remains inconclusive.

The DCA said unauthorised stocking and sale of oxytocin injections is a punishable offence carrying imprisonment of up to five years, and further investigations and inspections are continuing across Telangana. (South First)

Source: Dairynews7x7 25 May, 2026 Read full story here

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