'Action will be taken against cow owners for raising cows on streets'

CHENNAI: After the incident of a cow attacking a nine-year-old school girl in MMDA Colony, the Greater Chennai Corporation officials have caught the cattle and put in custody. Meanwhile, a case has been registered against the owner of the cow.

The cow was caught by the civic authorities using animal catching vehicles and wad taken to the Corporation cattle sheds in Perambur. Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner J Radhakrishnan on Thursday, said that there are 15 vehicles for catching stray animals in the city, with one vehicle in each zone. These vehicles at least catch about 500 cows roaming in the streets every month. However, the owners pay the fine and get their cattles back on the same day but again leave them on the roads, he said.

He added that in the last 6 months, a fine amount of Rs 51.7 lakh has been collected. We have rules stating that the cow owners should have minimum of 36 square feet of place to keep the cows. But there are many people who are raising the cows by keeping them on the streets only. We are planning to take an action against such cattle owners and recover the cows from them," said the commissioner.

The cattle roaming on the roads are caught and each of the owners are fined Rs 2000 along with maintenance cost of the caught cows for two days. If the owner of the captured cows does not pay the fine within two days and recover the cows, Rs 200 per day is charged as maintenance fee for maintaining the cows from the third day.

After the cows are captured, the zonal officials releases the cows based on the affidavit submitted by the owners of the cows to take them out of the cowshed after getting the recommendation and signatures of the Veterinary Assistant Inspector and the police inspector within the respective Corporation zone where the cow is caught. However, when a cow is caught for the third time, the cow will not be returned to the owner and will be handed over to the Blue Cross Society.