The Hindu : Kerala News : Saving them from the butcher's knife

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Kerala

Kerala

Saving them from the butcher's knife

K.S. Sudhi

KOCHI: Six goats, four cows and a bull in the pink of their health.

It was an offer that baffled those at the Society for Prevention of Cruelties Against Animals (SPCA), especially M.R. Sethumadhavan, its secretary.

Usually, the SPCA rescues animals that are in distress. And that too after calls from animal lovers and general public who are moved by the plight of animals.

But this time, T.K. Viswanathan, an employee of the State Health Department, offered the animals that he had been rearing for years.

"These are the progenies of the animals that I bought years ago and I don't want to leave them to the butcher's knife," said Mr. Viswanathan.

Many people have approached him with the offer of buying them for meat. But Mr. Viswanathan refused to sell them, as he knows that the cattle will be taken away straight to the abattoir.

Though he loves the animals dearly, Mr. Viswanathan is forced to part with them as he is now not in a position to take care of them.

"Presently, I am posted at Thiruvananthapuram for a training programme and I am not in a position to take proper care of the animals. It was at this stage that my friend Sasidharan came up with the idea of leaving the animals at the care of SPCA," Mr. Viswanathan said.

Mr. Sethumadhavan is also a happy man to receive such an offer at the initial stages of the activities of the recently reconstituted Society, which had been inactive in the district for quite some time.

He plans to hand over the animals to the Gosala (a shelter for cows), which the Swadeshi Science Movement is planning to launch in the district. The Society is planning to make handing over ceremony a memorable one, as it will mark the beginning of the new history in animal care in the district.

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