Polybags wreak havoc on cattle

By J. S. Ifthekhar

HYDERABAD, JULY 8. Be deaf and blind to the plastic peril and the dumb might have to pay a heavy price. Ever wondered where those colourful carry bags you toss disappear? Well, occasionally they may find their way to a bovine belly with disastrous consequences.

The Sitarampet Government Veterinary Hospital here has come across a rare case of a cow carrying 21 kg of plastic material. In a major operation done recently surgeons at the hospital cut open the "rumen" of the cow and removed plastic bags, nails, pins, buttons and other knick-knacks. "Any negligence in the matter would have led to certain death of the animal," said Dr. Madhusudan Gowd, who performed the operation.

This is not an isolated case. The story finds resonance across the country and even in zoos. Not long ago veterinary surgeons removed 40 kg of plastic bags from the stomach of a dead cow in Jaipur, it is said.

The ubiquitous polybags, offshoot of a growing and reckless consumption, is wreaking havoc on the stray cattle. In the instant case, the five-year old cow was brought to hospital all the way from Ibrahimpatnam in Ranga Reddy district when it stopped eating. After examination, doctors operated upon the cow and found to their shock that the carry bags devoured by it had turned into a plastic rope due to gastric movements. In a three- hour operation, surgeons carefully removed the foreign material and dressed the wound. The cow had to remain an "inpatient" for 10 days. "All this is avoidable if only there is an effective ban on use of plastic bags," says Dr. Bhoopati Reddy, Assistant Surgeon.

In another case, the Sitarampet Veterinary Hospital recently did a caesarean section on a six-year-old she-buffalo. Surgeons removed a Siamese twins weighing 30 kg. The still-born calves had two heads, four legs and two tails. "This kind of congenital anomaly and delivery is very rare among bovines," says Dr. Reddy.

This particular case was referred to the hospital from Chevella. The buffalo owner had brought the animal to Hyderabad when Medicare provided locally had proved ineffective.

The Sitarampet hospital is flooded with a variety of such cases from far and wide. However, the oldest and the biggest veterinary hospital in the State is faced with a severe resource crunch. While shoe-string budget is a rule rather than an exception with Government hospitals, this one is in a much worse situation. Ever since its inception in 1927, the Sitarampet hospital has a paltry annual budget of Rs. 40,000 for medicine. Only last year it was hiked to Rs. 50,000. But even this is hardly sufficient and in effect works out to less than a rupee per case.

The hospital, therefore, is not in a position to supply free medicine. Doctors merely prescribe and the cattle owners are expected to purchase the medicine from outside. On an average the hospital gets 150 to 200 cases per day -- relating to bovines, canines and other animals.

Surely a veterinary hospital figures the least in the Government's scheme of things. When it turns a blind eye to human suffering, the plight of dumb animals would invite at best a deaf ear.

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Section  : Southern States
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