more-in A majority of the people strongly support the cause of cow protection as the issue becomes a hot topic in the country. They also deplore illegal transport and slaughter. But how many people would come forward to take care of them if they are saved during such transport. Is it really possible to take care of them even if sympathy is there for the soft animals? The answer is ‘yes’ from an elderly couple in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. Believe it or not...they are taking care of more than 1,000 cows saved while they were being illegally shifted to slaughter houses in different places, including Hyderabad. Animal lovers Badagala Ramanamurthy, 65, and B. Adilakshmi, 62, who started the Chilukuri Balaji Gosala Pashusamrakshana Kendram in 2009, had never anticipated that they would be given the huge responsibility of controlling over 1,000 animals in a single place. Their number goes up continuously as hundreds of animals are being transported inhumanely from Itchapuram, Kanchili, Kaviti and other areas regularly. The couple allocated more than 4 acres of their own land in Baruva, 80 km from Srikakulam town, and spend all their income on feeding and protecting the animals. Income from coconut plants and rent from a few properties are being spent completely for them. They are also taking loans from others as their income is not sufficient to handle the huge number of animals. The government did not have provision to extend financial support although it depended on the kendram for protection of cows. Herculean task “Police personnel directly hand over the animals to us regularly. Their protection becomes a Herculean task for us as some of them are sick. We are hiring workers of Odisha and West Bengal for their maintenance. The government should come forward to extend its helping hand to run the organisation smoothly,” said Ms. Adilakshmi. According to her, many locals are not allowing the cows to graze in their fields. There is no proper approach road to wet lands from their locality. “We requested the Collector K. Dhanunjaya Reddy to look into those grievances. We hope he would respond positively very soon,” she added. A senior district official, who lauded their efforts, felt that help from the agriculture, animal husbandry and other departments was the need of the hour since illegal transport of animals was rampant in the district.

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