MADURAI: A cow, aged 5-6 years that sustained burn injuries (likely due to corrosive substance) about a week ago was admitted to the Veterinary Polyclinic at Tallakulam on Sunday following the intervention of Collector Dr. S Aneesh Sekhar.
Animal rights activist Mayur Hassija (36) inspected the injured animal after she received a photograph of it in WhatsApp from a friend on Saturday.
Speaking to TNIE, he said, "The cow is owned by Ayyapandi, a milk vendor at Alwarpuram (along the Vaigai river) and his son Stalin. They said that about a week ago, the cow that had gone for grazing returned with the burn injuries. After initial treatment at a polyclinic, the owners had left it to roam and graze as usual, without any follow-up treatment."
When asked, the father-son duo said that they were self-medicating the cow with Penicillin injection as they could not afford transport charges for follow-up consultations or to depute a caretaker round-the-clock to admit the cow as inpatient, Hassija said.
"In the cattle shed where 14 cows are raised, another cow had the contagious foot and mouth disease as told by the owners who seemed concerned only about milk production. It only indicated negligence in caring for the animals," he added.
On Saturday night, Hassija lodged a police complaint at Tallakulam police station, on charges of "infliction of cruelty on cattle using corrosive substance and negligence by the owner". A case was registered. Upon being alerted, a veterinarian from the polyclinic treated the animal on Sunday morning, following which Collector Dr S Aneesh Sekhar visited the injured animal and directed the owners to admit the cow to the polyclinic as inpatient.
Regional Joint Director (in-charge) of Animal Husbandry department Dr A Ravichandran said that though the burn injuries are not too deep, puss continues to ooze out even if the skin dries up. The animal will be closely monitored, he added.
Hassija added that in a similar instance of animal cruelty, two jallikattu bulls and a cow were found with grievous burn injuries at Surya Nagar in March. A complaint was lodged at Thiruppalai police station.