The 'cattlelogue' of woes: Can gaushalas solve the menace of stray cows?

Experts estimate that land equivalent of 17,200 football fields would be needed to accommodate all of UP's abandoned cattle

Over 800 emaciated cows huddle in a single pen Lucknow's Kanha Upvan. Uttar Pradesh’s largest government-run cattle shelter has 15 such pens and new animals arrive here every day. The sheds where they are fed are cramped. The weak don’t even make it to the feeding troughs. 

The conditions are better at the Shri Gaushala Society’s cow shelter on GT Road in Panipat, Haryana. Though overcrowded, here the volunteers feed the cattle and clean the pens regularly. An ambulance is on standby and a separate shelter across the road houses sick and injured cattle. 

There’s a reason why the two gaushalas are