Impact on Cows

This is a common sight on the streets, some cows amble by and occasionally stop to eat garbage. Other cows lie on the roads, dying from malnourishment after having to eat city garbage for an extended period of time.

An autopsy on a street cow revealed that it had eaten 40kg of plastic in its short life before it died.

This came as a surprise to me because like everyone else, I had assumed that the Hindu values of Indians included treating cows as sacred beings. Hindus in India do treat cows with much respect, when they walk on roads, the cars and autos wait behind, sometimes causing very sudden pop-up traffic congestions.

On the other hand, this respect for cows and bulls also applied to the extent that the Indians refuse to cull or kill them after they have served their purpose to their owners. A german friend I made when I was there said that some families in the suburban areas or streetshops in the city keep a cow for their milk. But when they stop producing milk, these cows are released onto the city streets, with so much as nothing as an “apology” to the cow. The cows then consume plastic because grass in the city is hard to find.