More than 2,000 abandoned cattle in Chandigarh’s gaushalas, cattle pound, Punjab and Haryana High Court told

The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation Tuesday informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that it was accommodating over 2,000 stray cattle in its three gaushalas (cattle sheds) and a cattle pound.

The information was submitted during the resumed hearing of a public interest litigation filed by a Kurukshetra resident, Renuka Chopra, alleging that cows were being illegally transported from Chandigarh cowsheds to Uttar Pradesh through Haryana and to other states where their slaughtering was permissible.

Bhawna Garg, Chandigarh Municipal Commissioner, informed that as many as 1,535 stray animals had been given shelter in the three gaushalas having a capacity of 875 animals. The civic body has a cattle pound spread out over five acres and accommodates around 544 animals. Garg informed the court that people from Chandigarh and its surrounding areas abandoned their unproductive, sick and old animals in and around the city. But in order to make the city roads and parks cattle-free, these animals were impounded on a regular basis and sent to the three gaushalas being managed by NGOs. Read More…