POKHARA, Mar 12: With the objective of controlling and managing stray cattle, Pokhara-Lekhnath Metropolitan City has started a campaign to tag all the cattle in the city.
Thagendra Prasad Aryal, chief of livestock division at the metropolitan city said tagging will make it easier to identify the owners of the cattle on the streets. This will ultimately reduce the number of stray cattle from the streets and roads.
Many people abandon their cows and buffaloes on the streets once they are old or stop giving milk. The metropolitan city has also tightened security at the major entry points to the city to prevent abandoned cattle from entering the city.
Ghodaghodi Municipality struggling to manage stray cattle
Stray cattle are also blamed for traffic snarls and even road accidents. "Until now we have been catching stray cattle from the streets and putting them at our Kanji House [animal shelter]. Three days ago, we sent 22 stray cows to Kanji House," informed Aryal.
According to Aryal, they have started tagging the cattle from the city's ward 17. Metropolis staff visit all households and farms in the ward and tag the cattle. Aryal said it will take around 20 days to complete cattle tagging in ward 17 and they will start the work in other wards.
Mayor Man Bahadur GC inaugurated the campaign by putting a tag on the ear of a cow at Baral Cow Farm on Sunday. "We are doing this for the safety of road traffic and pedestrians," said Mayor GC.
Officials estimated that there are around 700 stray cattle on the streets of Pokhara-Lekhnath Metropolitan City.
