It looks like the authorities are hesitant to expose illegal cattle trading going on in the city.
Though an animal welfare committee appointed by the state government caught illegal cattle trading red-handed, near Kaloor the other day, the local police authorities booked a case only against two drivers of the lorry which was carrying the cattle, allowing the larger network of slaughterhouse owners to go scot free.
The committee had booked a lorry which was carrying 65 cattle to a slaughterhouse in Kaloor. As per the slaughterhouse stipulations, only six cattle can be transported in a truck. “But the truck was stuffed with 65 cows being brought from Tanjavore in Tamil Nadu,” wrote Gauri Maulekhi, member of the committee and also the Animal Welfare Board of India, in a social networking site after the
inspection.
She wrote, “Chilies and tobacco had blinded most of the animals. Some of them were badly trampled upon. Fractures. Injuries. Hunger. Thirst. Terror. Hopelessness,” to emphasise the cruelty meted out to the
animals.
After the committee complained to the Corporation, a case was filed with the Ernakulam North Police Station. However, without attaching any importance to the issue, the police booked a case against the two drivers of the truck, whitewashing the entire network of suppliers of cattle and owners of slaughterhouses.
Moreover, instead of arresting the owners under IPC, the case has been booked only under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and Transport of Animal Rules. “This is a routine affair, many such trucks are booked every other day, what’s so great about it,” asked a police officer of the Ernakulam North Police
Station.
According to Gauri, the locals were surprised when the committee raised an alarm. Corporation Councillor Thampi Subramaniyam, who has repeatedly raised the issue of slaughterhouses with the authorities, said that the attitude of the authorities must change if the menace has to be solved. “Slaughterhouses are running like village industries in the city. Almost half of them do not adhere to any of the regulations. The animals brought to these slaughterhouses suffer injuries due to this,” said Thampi .