BHOLENATH VISHWAKARMA: ‘Cows are everywhere in Indian cities. So much so that Lonely Planet India rightly and somewhat sardonically notes that the Number One user of the roads of India are cows… However, I am concerned here about the plight and welfare of cows and other animals in general that we find on the streets of India… We see regular abuse of these innocent and defenseless animals in many ways every day in India… Cows are transported under appalling conditions which makes a mockery of India being a society that worships them almost like a God… At the border of India-Bangladesh, they are tied at the neck and cantilevered to the other side while they howl and thrash their legs in acute agony… For the most part, they are slaughtered the halal way since most abattoir workers happen to be Muslim.
Along with transportation of cows, many tens of millions of chickens are also transported up and down the country on long journeys and in horrible conditions, usually in tiny cages in trucks, or tied by their legs and hanging behind a motorbike. Trade of pet animals is an altogether different horror story of which there is little monitoring or indeed research. We see horses and bulls used for transportation. Our country is alive and heaving with elephants, monkeys, snakes and other animals for entertainment and other livelihood purposes… This kind of cruelty on animals shows more about the religious and cultural heritage of a country that cannot be covered behind the Incredible India poster campaign’. SOURCE…