SHILLONG: The state government has signed an MoU with Dhyan Foundation, an animal welfare group based in Delhi, to take care of the seized cattle till the owners claim them.
A senior official of the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary department said the plan of the Dhyan Foundation is to keep the seized cattle in animal shelter home at Saitsama, West Jaintia Hills.
The civil work at 5 acres of land is in progress and once the work is over, the Dhyan Foundation will be able to transport the cattle, the official added.
Concerns have been raised in the past regarding cruelty to animals after the cattle meant for smuggling was seized by the police and the BSF.
Both the police and the BSF have no place to keep the seized animals thereby resulting in undue hardships to them.
The normal procedure is that once the cattle is seized, a case is filed by the police and the matter is taken up by the court.
The state government said pending the disposal of cases, the seized animals will be taken care of by the NGO.
Earlier, the Customs used to auction the seized cattle handed over to it by both the BSF and the police, which, however was prevented by the Supreme Court.
As per the order of the court, the seized cattle now are handed over to the police.
Recently, the state government has notified that the animals seized will be dealt as per the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Care and Maintenance of Case Property Animals) Rules, 2017.
“The BSF and Customs officials shall hand
over the custody of the seized cattle to the police for further action as per the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Care and Maintenance of Case Property Animals) Rules, 2017”, the order added.
According to a statement of the BSF, the number of seized cattle till May this year is 3228.
The year wise seizure of cattle is 2014 (552), 2015(1920), 2016(3394), 2017 (10,254) and 2018(6379).
