152 cows die of starvation in UP’S ‘richest shelter’
than a fourth of all cows at one of India’s richest and biggest bovine shelters died in the past five months and half are ill, putting a spotlight on the animal’s plight despite political hype on banning its slaughter.
Four of these deaths at the 128year-old Kanpur Gaushala occurred in the past week and doctors say the cows starved to death, triggering furore among local residents. The shelter holds 540 cows, 152 of whom have died. The society that manages the facility holds property worth more than ₹220 crore.
“The society is run by the who’s who of Kanpur, it gets crores of rupees in donation; where is the money going? This needs to be investigated,” said a senior member of the society.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is known to tend to a large population of cows at the Gorakhnath Temple, where he is the head priest, and has enforced a crackdown on illegal abattoirs. But critics say such measures unfairly target minority communities and no real measures to protect or nourish the cows are taken.
The Kanpur society was formed with the sole criterion of taking care of stray cows but allegations of neglect and siphoning of funds were triggered after an autopsy of the four dead cows on Tuesday pointed at empty intestines and urinary bladder. It means the cows hadn’t eaten anything nor did they drink water out of weak ness, doctors say. “The condi tions we found are possible if the intake is negligible for prolonged period,” said Dr Dharmendra “The cows were anaemic and devoid of nutritious food.”
Shyamji Arora, the society’s general secretary, dismissed the allegations and said the cows were attended by doctors on a day-to-day basis and eight mem bers of the shelter examined the fodder. “Every day 18 quintals o hay and 20 quintals of green fod der is given to the cows; now tha summer has set in, green fodder will not be available for next one month,” he said.