CHENNAI: Animal welfare activists and police rescued on Friday about 30 cows being taken from Andhra Pradesh to Kerala for slaughter. The cows, crammed into a truck, were being transported from Tilaru village near the AP-Orissa border.
Around 10.15am, when the truck was parked near the Chenagalpet toll plaza, some residents of a nearby village found the animals in the vehicle and alerted the police and the Blue Cross of India. "We rushed there with a medical kit and were shocked to see that most of the animals were sick and weak," said Dawn Williams, general manager of Blue Cross. All the cows were tied to a wooden frame. One of them was with a broken leg and while another four were in a dehydrated state, Blue Cross officials said. "We sent the cattle to the Blue Cross rescue centre in Chennai for medical attention," Chengalpet Taluk sub-inspector S Sivagnanam said.
The animals, Blue Cross officials said, were being transported in violation of the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, the Transport of Animals Rules, 1978, and section 378, 379, 428 and 429 of the Indian Penal Code. Under these provisions, persons can be sentenced up to five years of imprisonment. "As per transport rules, a truck can carry six animals as a cow or bull needs two square metres of space. We find overloaded trucks carrying cattle nearly every day on GST Road and on the Chennai-Bangalore Highway," said honorary joint secretary of Blue Cross, Satya Radhakrishnan.
Based on a complaint from Williams, five people, including truck driver S Karupaiyah,31, of Dindigul, were arrested. On February 7, animal welfare activists and police had rescued 26 buffaloes and two bulls being transported for slaughter from Andhra Pradesh to Kerala near Chengalpet.
Around 10.15am, when the truck was parked near the Chenagalpet toll plaza, some residents of a nearby village found the animals in the vehicle and alerted the police and the Blue Cross of India. "We rushed there with a medical kit and were shocked to see that most of the animals were sick and weak," said Dawn Williams, general manager of Blue Cross. All the cows were tied to a wooden frame. One of them was with a broken leg and while another four were in a dehydrated state, Blue Cross officials said. "We sent the cattle to the Blue Cross rescue centre in Chennai for medical attention," Chengalpet Taluk sub-inspector S Sivagnanam said.
The animals, Blue Cross officials said, were being transported in violation of the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, the Transport of Animals Rules, 1978, and section 378, 379, 428 and 429 of the Indian Penal Code. Under these provisions, persons can be sentenced up to five years of imprisonment. "As per transport rules, a truck can carry six animals as a cow or bull needs two square metres of space. We find overloaded trucks carrying cattle nearly every day on GST Road and on the Chennai-Bangalore Highway," said honorary joint secretary of Blue Cross, Satya Radhakrishnan.
Based on a complaint from Williams, five people, including truck driver S Karupaiyah,31, of Dindigul, were arrested. On February 7, animal welfare activists and police had rescued 26 buffaloes and two bulls being transported for slaughter from Andhra Pradesh to Kerala near Chengalpet.
