VILLUPURAM: Four days after cows were found dead in Vazhudhareddy lake in Villupuram, activists alleged that the cows belonged to a private cow shelter (gaushala) and that a heap of cows was already buried in the shelter as the owners hadn’t fed the cows properly. Samaran Thamarai, an animal rights activist from Chennai, had visited the shelter and filed a complaint on poor maintenance of the cattle to the Animal Welfare Board of India.
Samaran told TNIE, “We received a complaint online and visited the place only to see heaps of dead cows being buried inside the shelter. The owner told us that he was running out of funds to feed the cows and so the cows were left to die. This is outright animal cruelty and illegal activity happening in the heart of the town and needs immediate intervention of animal husbandry board.”
Further, residents of Vazhudhareddy alleged that the cows dumped in the lake on Saturday were likely to have been extremely sick and were left in the lake in their last moments. “Usually cows die in a seated position and almost all the cows we spotted were in the same position. So they had been dumped here when the cows breathed their last,” alleged a 45-year old resident who first saw the cow carcasses in the lake.
It was believed an autopsy was required but the Joint Director of Animal Husbandry told TNIE that the carcasses were extremely decomposed and were not in a condition to be autopsied. Contradicting the opinion of the JD, environmentalist A Akilan from Villupuram said, “Autopsies are done even on fully decomposed human bodies but the cows seen were not so rotten to not carry out a postmortem. We suspect the officials are trying to support the gaushala owner which is why they are refusing to reveal the cause of death of the cows.”
TNIE accessed the visuals of cows being buried in the campus of the cow shelter. However, an attempt to visit the shelter on Tuesday was thwarted when workers denied entry. Collector D Mohan said, “I did not visit the shelter even once and it is wrong information spewed against the authorities. Immediate action will be taken against shelter owner.”