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Travelling Cattle

According to Indian Animal Welfare Laws, it is illegal to transport animals in any manner that will cause them suffering. It is perfectly all right to complain/ take the transporter to task. But, how many of us have the time and the inclination to go to the nearest police outpost and complain/ exchange words with the transporter?



During a recent journey, this pair of young buffaloes were travelling ahead of us.It was impossible to ignore them - especially, the difficulty they had with maintaining their balance. A couple of times, the tether seemed to be pulling at their necks, adding to their discomfort. Obviously, the driver preferred speed to the animals' comfort.
Disturbing, no doubt, but, we were definitely in no mood to pick up an argument. Soon, we passed them by and the buffaloes were out of our sight (can't remove them out of my mind though :( ).
Some years ago, I had read an article by Menaka Gandhi. She had written that if animals could sue us for defamation, they most definitely would. See how we malign them ....A dog is known for its loyalty, but, we call traitors Kutta. Crows, pigeons, owls,cuckoos - intelligent birds, but, an idiot/ non -thinker is either an ullu/ / cuckoo/ bird-brained. A pig is known for its personal hygiene and we call a dirty person 'pig'. A donkey is so hardworking and the lazy one amongst us is labelled gadha, .... and so on.
Yeah, I think, she has a point there. Maybe, the cattle should be suing us twice? For forcing them to travel uncomfortably, and then, calling that kind of travel 'cattle class'!
It's not always that cattle are transported this way, you know. People with genuine concern, lay a thick bed of sand on the floor of the vehicle. Once the hooves sink into the sand, it's a relatively comfortable journey for the cattle. Now, I would call that 'Cattle I class'!!
The real 'cattle class', however, travels like in the picture on the header of this blog - relaxed, at its own pace, occupying the entire stretch of the road :)
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Comments

  1. Arun Shimoga24 September, 2010

    Your concern is appreciable. Good observation. Is it better than what the people used to do earlier - taking the cattle all the distance by walk - from one place to another?
    ---- Arun.

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  2. Soumya28 September, 2010

    Placing a sand bed on the floor of the vehicle + moderate speed seems to be okay for long distance transportation. For shorter distances, I guess, placing a sand bed won't be economical - 20-30 kmph travel speed seems good enough. Walking, especially with a big herd of cattle can be very tiresome for all road users - a nuisance that all rural K'taka road users face every morning & evening.

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