The country’s one of the top cow hospitals run by Jalaram Gauseva Trust in Bhabhar area of Gujarat’s Banaskantha is currently under financial distress due to the occurrence of lumpy skin disease in cattle.
The Cowshed is currently under a huge debt of over two crores. Due to this epidemic, cows have to be overfed at present, which has increased the daily expenditure by about 50 per cent. The cost has increased to INR 10 lakhs per day. At present there are around 10,000 cows and Nandi (ox) in the institution that are feeble, old, sick and lumpy.
With 250 cows, 50 medical staff serving the cows, the cowshed started locally in the year 1999, has 22 specially-designed ambulances to bring in all the sick or with broken limbs or acid-attacked cows within a radius of 300 kilo-metres. Nearly 250 cowherds and 50 medical staff constantly monitor them.
Prakashbhai Thakkar, the Founding Trustee of the organisation said, “Currently, there are about 10,000 cows in our cowshed, out of which 500 cows are lumpy and about 1200 are Nandi. Most of the cows are sick, old and debilitated and need to boost their immunity to prevent them from getting lumpy. For this, we give them special food, which costs more. Before lumpy, we used to spend INR 7 lakhs a day but now it has reached to INR 10 lakhs a day. This has resulted in a debt of around INR 2 crores. Earlier, we used to buy 150 sacks of grain, now we order 400 sacks a day. The cost of cow medicine has also increased. People are requested to help suitably so that the outstanding bills can be paid.”
Trustee Prakashbhai said, “we have kept a special air-conditioned ward for acid attack and fire-burnt cows and other animals. Apart from this, accidentally-hit cows are given the best of the treatments in this veterinary hospital. This is why it is considered as Asia’s one of the best facility centres for animals. At present, we have about 150 cows that are accidentally hit. Our hospital is spread across 15 bighas (4.132 acre).”
Regarding the nutritional feed offered to the cows and other animals for increasing their immunity, he asserted, “Food mixed with toparu (a local meal offered to cows), turmeric, fenugreek, ajmo (also known as ajwain or carom seeds) are fed to boost their immunity.”
Additionally, the hospital offers specially-designed, nutrition-based foodstuffs to feed cows for increasing their immunity and to boost their resistance against certain killing diseases like lumpy- ‘guar bharda, barley bharda, maize bharda, cotton husk, toparu, turmeric, oil, jaggery, ajmo, fenugreek are among the most important meals.
