3 stray cattle found dead near Palampur

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, March 31

Three stray cattle were found dead under mysterious circumstances at Khaira village, 20 km from here, yesterday.

The dead animals were found lying in a pool of blood with deep wounds.

This is the second recent incident of dead animals in the village. About two months ago, the two animals were found dead in a similar condition.

A few villagers, while talking to The Tribune, said people, who were on a walk in the, morning found the stray animals on the side of the road.

The matter was reported to the local panchayat pardhan. Later, villagers, using a JCB machine, buried the carcasses. However, the matter has not been reported to the police or local administration so far. The SHO of the area said none of the villagers had come forward to lodge a complaint with the police. Various voluntary organisations and social bodies have expressed their deep concern over the killing of the animals. Various organisations urged Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to direct the district administration and civic agencies to keep this menace in check. About two years ago, the state government had spent over Rs 5 crore on the construction of a stray cattle home at Nagri. The shelter, however, is still not operational. Former BJP MLA Parveen Sharma said he had taken up this issue with the Chief Minister, the Animal Husbandry Department, and the Kangra Deputy Commissioner several times, calling for the shelter to be made operational. However, nothing has been done in this regard so far, he added.He said the state government was collecting Rs 1 per bottle from liquor contractors to set up sheds for stray cattle, but no shelter had come up in the area so far.

The municipal corporation and the Animal Husbandry Department have reportedly failed to curb the stray animal menace due to the lack of resources. There are over 20,000 stray animals in Kangra district. The menace of stray animals continues to haunt residents in the district. Herds of stray animals on both highways and city roads are a common sight for the locals.

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