Chitra V. Ramani and

Swathi Shivanand

Bangalore: On Sunday, a healthy buffalo met with an accident at Basavangudi. Its backbone was broken and it was writhing in pain. Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA) reluctantly took the animal to its shelter. Even though, it had no hope of surviving, they could not put the animal to sleep, as the garbage van of the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) does not work on Sundays. So, CUPA veterinarians had no choice but to keep the animal alive till Monday.

This is the cruel part for most animal welfare organisations. The absence of a proper burial ground or incinerator in the city means that animals receive the most indignified form of funeral, says Sudha Narayan, managing trustee of CUPA.

Unofficial statistics put the number of animals which die in the city in a month at about 1,200. Animal welfare organisations in the city have come up with different strategies to dispose dead animals.

Managing trustee of Animal Rights Fund (ARF) Dilip Basna said on Tuesday that the ARF buries small animals such as cats under railway tracks and bigger animals such as dogs and cows in farmlands.

"We pay the farmers about Rs. 400 to bury dogs and have to pay up to Rs. 1,500 for large animals," he said.

CUPA volunteers take small dead animals and bury them outside Bangalore. But larger animals are wrapped in plastic and sent to dumping yards.

Animal welfare organisations have been asking the BMP to set up a burial ground or an incinerator for the past six years. They are even willing to set it up themselves if some land is allotted to them.

"The BMP should allot land around Bangalore for this purpose. Land rates are escalating and it will become expensive to buy the land," said Mr. Basna.

Vijaylakshmi, Chief Health Officer, BMP, told The Hindu that plans to set aside some land for a burial ground for animals were still in the preliminary stage.

"We are looking for land at Medhi Agrahara, an area beyond Yeshwantpur. It could be ready in the next six to eight months," she said. Plans for an incinerator are not on the anvil, Ms. Vijayalakshmi added.

However, an incinerator seems to be a more viable option, as the land required is minimal.

Narasimha Murthy of Karuna Animal Welfare Association, Karnataka said: "Incineration of the carcass is cleaner than burial, as it will help contain contamination of the soil."

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