Animal welfare activists seized four trucks laden with 103 cattle near Perungalathur on Monday.
All the rescued cattle have been housed at a shelter in Mambakkam near Selaiyur.
G. Arun of People for Cattle in India, said they received specific information about the cattle being smuggled.
Volunteers of the organisation, with the help of local police, then seized the cattle-laden trucks. Mr. Arun said a total of 72 buffaloes and 31 bulls and cows were stacked in the four trucks.
While three trucks bore an Andhra Pradesh registration number, another truck was from Oddanchatram in Dindigul district.
Normally, the traders procure the cattle from Andhra Pradesh and sell them in the shanties operating in various parts of Tamil Nadu, from where the cattle are then sent to abattoirs in Kerala. But, this time the traders decided to take the cattle directly to Kerala, he said.
About seven animals were found to be pregnant, the activists said. A case for trafficking cattle has been registered with Peerkankaranai police, after which the rescued cattle were shifted to the shelter.
Police registered cases under the Prevention of Cruelties to Animals Act and Motor Vehicles Act for overloading cattle in the trucks.
This is the third rescue operation by the organisation in the last four months.
The first seizure took place in December last year, during which 45 cattle were rescued and sent to shelters, while the second one was in January this year in which 122 cattle were rescued.
