This story is from February 16, 2015

Jallikattu bulls leave for life in Coimbatore ghoshala

More than a hundred jallikattu bulls which narrowly escaped the butcher's knife are going to live in comfort in a ghoshala in Coimbatore, much to the relief of many of the owners.
Jallikattu bulls leave for life in Coimbatore ghoshala
MADURAI: More than a hundred jallikattu bulls which narrowly escaped the butcher's knife are going to live in comfort in a ghoshala in Coimbatore, much to the relief of many of the owners. Many of them had been facing the unpleasant option of going for a distress sale of their priced cattle, which had become expensive to maintain.
On Sunday, 180 of these bulls were bought by the Coimbatore Cattle Care Trust and taken in trucks to the Vellingiri Ghoshala.
Nizammudin, the president of the trust, said they had done some extensive research into the fate of the bulls after the ban on the sport.
"It was alarming to see that almost all the game bulls were being taken to cattle markets in and around Madurai for sale. That was when we decided to step in and create awareness. P Rajasekhar, president of the Jallikattu Pathukaapu Peravai, helped us a lot with the process," Nizammudin explained. It was disheartening that the court had not thought about the fate of these cattle when they banned the game, he added. S Santhosh Kumar from Managiri helped the trust to identify many of the cattle.
He took the members to localities where cattle trade was underway, where they managed to prevent animals from going to slaughter houses. "We had to bargain and bought the cattle at prices ranging Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000," Santhosh said. He has himself given away two of his bulls, but has retained and is training two calves at his home, since he believes that the ban on jallikattu would soon be lifted. Many of the owners who sold the animals said they would go to Coimbatore and conduct jallikattu there, if the Supreme Court lifted the ban.
M Anand of Ayyanarkulam in Usilampatti has decided to make frequent trips to the cattle shelter and visit his animals. He had been apprehensive whether the bulls would be maintained well at the ghoshala, he said. "I did background checks and now we are part of this team that helps the bulls. I have given a couple of bulls away for free, because I want them to have a good life," he said.
According to Anand, as many as 400 cattle have been given away in distress sales after it was known that the game would not be held this year. It costs about Rs 200 a day to maintain well-bred jallikattu bulls, as they require special diets. Owners of winning bulls can also earn lakhs of rupees on immediate sale of the animal after the game. Most of them are agricultural workers, who cannot maintain the bulls if the games are not held and are forced to give them away. Meanwhile, the bulls were loaded into about 30 trucks, carrying posters lauding jallikattu on their sides and banana plants tied to their front as a symbol of farewell, at a farm in Pattanam on the outskirts of Madurai. Each vehicle carried a maximum of four animals.
"We follow all the rules of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Veterinary doctors certify the health and fitness of the animals before they are transported," Nizammudin said. The trust is planning to enroll more local youth to ensure that this race of cattle continues to survive.
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