UP: Eating polybags and non-biodegradable waste, cows suffer from obstructive bowel syndrome

At a time when the Yogi Adityanath government in UP is likening the opposition of their version of 'Hindutva' with sedition, the cows, which are the most revered animals in Hinduism, are dying a slow and painful death in the state from eating polybags and other non-biodegradable waste.

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Image for representation

At a time when the Yogi Adityanath government in UP is likening the opposition of their version of 'Hindutva' with sedition, the cows, which are the most revered animals in Hinduism, are dying a slow and painful death in the state from eating polybags and other non-biodegradable waste.

The Yogi government is coming down hard on cow smugglers in the state and all district magistrates in UP have been given special instructions to make suitable arrangements for the housing of stray cows in 'Gaushalas'. But even in these gaushalas, no attention is being paid to what the cows are eating.

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Consequently, all over UP, cows are suffering from obstructive bowel syndrome from eating polybags, fed to them by the same cow-worshipping crowd that claims that the cow is the mother of man. Yesterday, in a major surgery of a cow's abdomen, doctors retrieved 60 kilograms of polythene and other waste in the veterinary hospital at Kosi Kotwan near Mathura. The cow had been brought to the hospital from a Gaushala operated by a charitable trust.

Devi Chitralekha, the principal volunteer and trustee at the Gaushala told India Today that the cows have not been eating anything for the past several days, so it was brought to the hospital where an x-ray of its abdomen revealed a lot of waste choking the cow's digestive tract.

When the cow was taken for surgery, it was revealed that its entire digestive tract was stuffed with polythene and other waste, which included metal foils used in wrapping food. The total weight of this waste extracted from the cow's abdomen was about 60 kg. Following the surgery, the cow is recovering and is also eating now.

Senior citizen and social activist Uma Shanker Sharma said that although the cow is called 'mother', but the fact is that most of the people who raise these cows, leave them to graze in the garbage heaps instead of giving them proper food every day.

Most of the cows that eat from garbage heaps scattered all over the city are suffering from various ailments connected to the consumption of organic and inorganic waste materials and die sooner than their usual age.

He said that polythene has been banned all over UP, but no efforts are made to control the sale and purchase of polythene in the state, so in the end, all this polythene ends up in the garbage heaps and then in the cow's belly, making them sick.

If the UP Chief Minister really thinks about the welfare of cows, he should put a strict ban on polythene all over the state, he said.

Also, he demanded that those who leave their cows to roam around on the roads instead of keeping them in a healthy and safe environment inside their premises, should be prosecuted and the cows sent to cow-shelters where they are subjected to regular medical tests and treatment as needed.