Lorry overladen with cattle seized in Chennai

Volunteers of People for Cattle in India (PFCI) seized 28 cattle, which were being transported to abattoirs in Kerala, near Tambaram on Monday.

The cattle procured from Andhra Pradesh were being transported in a lorry.

G. Arun of PFCI said after specific information was received, volunteers assembled near the Tambaram bypass. Around 2.30 a.m., the lorry laden with cattle was spotted by the volunteers, who immediately stopped the vehicle and took it, with the cattle, to the Tambaram police station.

A case on charges of overloading cattle in a lorry and extension of the body of the vehicle to transport more goods/animals as well as cases under Prevention of Cruelties to Animals Act have been filed.

The seized cattle were taken to a cow shelter in Tiruvallur for rehabilitation. Later in the evening a team of veterinary surgeons from the Animal Husbandry department visited the shelter to check the health condition of the seized animals. They also certified that two of the cattle were in a critical condition and the others were not fit enough to be transported.

According to Mr. Arun, the lorry had been overloaded with cattle, which were stacked one on top of another.

With the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in various parts of the State, the officials had administered the vaccine to all the 28 cattle, housed at the shelter, Mr. Arun said.

Since the inception of PFCI last year, volunteers have seized 1,000 cattle, transported in 30 lorries, on 12 occasions, he added.