The Rescue of Abandoned Male Calves!
This is a festering issue and VSPCA has had a big win. At VSPCA, we are working very hard to see this comprehensive Cattle Rescue Programme expand to ensure no devotees bring in and discard male calves they don’t want and abandon them at the Simhachalan Temple.
One of VSPCA’s ongoing initiatives has been to rescue male calves who have been abandoned by farmers at the Simhachalam Temple. This is their ritual. They believe they are offering their faith to their God. Every week, at least 60 to 100 calves are abandoned at the Temple and the number increases on auspicious days. The sight is heart-breaking. The little ones, no bigger than doggies, suck on your fingers seeking to suckle from their mothers. It is a site that can make even a heartless one cry for them.
These cows are only a few days old and the Temple does not want to take the responsibility of taking care of many of them as some of these precious animals are considered “non-Hindu”. Sadly, there is a superstition that Gods accept only the Indian desi cows.
- Out of the recent 300 calves who were discarded, VSPCA has successfully got 190 adopted by local farmers, ensuring they remain for monitoring within a radius of 50 kilometers. VSPCA and Government vets are responsible for checking these animals regularly so they are growing properly and are not abused in any manner. VSPCA has a relationship with many farming communities who are learning how to apply these animals’ waste products to make their produce healthier and organic. It is a fairly comprehensive program.
- VSPCA has recently found out, some devout-farmers buy calves from animal exchange shanties, and bring them to temples as prayer offerings. So, VSPCA’s Founder and CEO, Mr. Pradeep Kumar Nath talked to the District Collector to put check-posts every 10 km and asked the temple authorities to place a heavy fine on such cases. This reduces the transportation numbers of these animals and heightens authorities on suspicious activities. The plan will impact the illegal transport and abuse of these little animals across the state. Simhachalam is a hub for these animals to land at and VSPCA is working closely with them to mitigate the wrongdoings.
- The Integrated Tribal Development (ITD) needs calves for their organic farms. VSPCA and the Joint District Collector are working on seeing how to streamline the process of calf adoption – for the tribal peoples. Government Animal Husbandry is involved with VSPCA on this matter.
Our team at VSPCA have been fighting this particular issues for more than 15 years and we are happy to say that we have been able to stop the temple authorities from auctioning off these calves themselves. We have also been successful in bringing down the abandonment rate from 16,000 to 3,000 annually. However, our work does not stop here as we want this number to decrease down to zero. We aim to achieve this goal through our consistent Awareness and Education efforts – made in villages, at Farmer Cooperatives, working with the temple authorities that own a lot of land here and also has power and connections.
As we head into religious months and festivals, we are anticipating more male calves will be abandoned at Simhachalam grounds.
We earnestly request all our well-wishers, donors, and supporters to help us in protecting little male calves who suffer as much as their mothers, fathers, and sisters in the dairy industry. They do not deserve to be sold off to ruthless slaughter houses. India’s illicit “veal” (calf flesh) and “beef” (cow, bull and buffalo flesh) industries thrive when we do not act. We seek your support to do what is right by these animals.