Writ filed at Supreme Court seeking protection to stray cows

Kathmandu, 4 March

Concerned over the fate of the stray cattle, especially cows and oxen, a writ petition has been filed at the Supreme Court demanding that the government ensure immediate protection of the stray cows and oxen in Kathmandu.
Advocate Padam Bahadur Shrestha on Sunday filed the writ in the highest court naming Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development and the Department of Livestock Services among others as the defendants.
Shrestha has demanded to put an end to the ill-treatment and cruelty towards the stray cattle, especially the cows and oxen and urged the government to protect them from diseases and hunger and provide them safe shelters.
The petition mentions that Constitution of Nepal’s Article 9 (3) has stipulated the cow to be the national animal of Nepal.
Stating that the cows are the national animal of Nepal and deeply revered in Hindu faith as were worshipped in Laxmi Puja of Tihar and the oxen worshipped in the Gobardan Puja, Shrestha has drawn attention of the concerned authority take actions that would keep the faith intact.
In the writ, he has highlighted how cows and oxen and their calves were abandoned once the cattle stop giving milk or ploughing and has sought mandamus or any other appropriate decree to discourage the trend of abandoning the domesticated cows and oxen after their utility comes to an end. (RSS)