More than 10000 cattle, 12000 goats perished in kerala floods

Pashu Sandesh, 28^th August 2018

Animal Husbandry department (AHD) of Kerala has estimated a loss of Rs 110 crore and death of 10,000 cattle in flood-affected districts of the state. According to estimates, around 12,000 goats and 7 lakh poultry died during the floods. The officials said that with flood wiping out a good number of livestock, it was important to save those which survived.

AHD has established Cattle relief shelters for the cattle of flood affected districts of Kerala. These temporary shelters erected in high and dry areas using PVC sheets has already provided housing to more than 50000 cattle. Temporary shelters numbering over 1,000 were set up on all possible places including unused bridges, partially damaged roads, near veterinary hospitals, AHD offices and public spaces.

In these relief camps the cattle are provided with fodder and the emergency medical aid. Hundreds of Veterinary Doctors from the Animal Husbandry department and volunteers are providing their services round the clock.

“Initially we set up camps in eight districts, later some of the camps in Kozhikode, Malappuram and Idukki were closed down. Camps are still running in five districts. We could distribute 856 metric tons of feed in all these districts and a special team of livestock inspectors and veterinary doctors were deployed to take care of animals in cattle relief camps. We could make use of panchayat resources and were able to set up shelters with poles and tarpaulins,” said N N Sasi, director, AHD in a media interaction.