Activists foil bid to ferry cattle illegally to Kerala

It is illegal to carry more than six to eight cattle in a lorry. There are several other specifications that need to be followed but traffickers flaunt all the rules. The cattle are transported in deplorable condition and are subjected to several hours of torture. 

“We got information that cattle were being illegally transported to Kerala from Perambalur. A six-member team was deputed from Chennai to intercept the traffickers. We stopped the lorry on the Perambalore Road (on Trichy Highway) and handed the lorry over to the police. A case has been registered against the owner of the lorry and the buyer and both have been remanded to judicial custody,” said Nitin from INCARE.

Of the 36 buffalos rescued, 19 were calves and 17 adults. Some buffalos were in a bad shape wherein their horns were cut. More than 2,000 cattle were rescued by various groups in the last one year. Many of them lose their lives in the process of transportation. The rescued cattle were taken to gaushalas, where they will be taken care of.

“A few months ago, we rescued over 200 pregnant cows that were being sent to slaughter. The incident was planned in such a way that they could slaughter fresh calves as their skin is used to make a specific type of leather. Around 40 cows were cramped into one truck and around four of them died while giving birth,” he said. 

“Since these animals are squeezed in a small space, there is no room for them to sit. Chilli is squeezed into their eyes to keep them awake. They also cut their horn so that they don’t poke each other. Some of them even tie a rope to the cattle’s nose and tie the other end in a knot so that they don’t fall asleep,” said Muralidharan Sivalingam, founder of INCARE. 

These activists face the wrath of the mafia as it’s a massive operation. G Arun Prasanna of Founder, People for Cattle in India, said, “Since Cattle slaughter is banned in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, they are made to walk for kilometres to Andhra Pradesh, where they are sold in shandys. From AP they are transported to Kerala through Tamil Nadu. There is a massive mafia involved that ensure that these vehicles go unchecked.”