Holy Cow

In Hindu culture, the Cow is as sacred as many a God and it used to be a punishible offence to kill one, by accident or not. This must be the reason why farmers have strayed from the common cow as a major livestock animal and instead, uses the Water Buffalo.

Now she is a much bigger animal, similar to a hearty angus cow with much more distinctive features, compared to the rather diminuative stature of the local cow- You'd see bigger weanlings! She produces more milk and the average Hindu isn't as perturbed about eating her "buff" meat and using her hide. Although, the higher Brahmin, or priest caste would beg to differ.

But people still milk the local breed of cow here, giving 1-2L of milk a day at peak lactation, but what on earth becomes of the male calves if you can't eat them? Well bull calves are castrated early in life and VIVA is promoting more modern techniques of this practice. Then, twice a year they are woken from their slumber to plow the fields after the harvest. They can also pull carts. I've seen 12/14yr old bullocks knocking about. But for others, they lead a life like an unwanted child, roaming the streets of towns and cities (mainly round abouts) begging for leftovers, carrying their wounds and scars. From an Irish perspective, all I can think is that they could start a new career abroad as beef animals!