The Indian Cow: Almost Extinct

MILK IN INDIA, is not just a drink, it is an elixir. For almost every Indian — rich or poor — the idea of a daily glass of milk holds a potent and emotional charge. It speaks of parental devotion, well-being and health. This faith in the power of milk is well-grounded: it is the primary nutrient for the young and the old. Nearly 63 percent of animal protein in the Indian diet comes from dairy products. For vegetarians, there is simply no alternative.

The idea of the cow, of course, is also emotively charged because of its mythical place in Hindu iconography, religion and culture: it is quite literally worshipped as goddess Kamdhenu: the cow of plenty. Premchand famously captured its centrality to Indian village life with his memorable tableau of grazing herds returning home at dusk in a cloud of dust, creating the magic hour of “godhuli”.

Again, this veneration is founded in hard pragmatics. Traditionally, India has been home to some of the most varied stock of cows in the world: the red-skinned Sahiwal that milks through droughts, the mighty Amrit Mahal with swords for horns or the tiny Vechur that stands no taller than a dog. Different breeds to suit different climatic conditions. These cows have been the most crucial backbone of India’s rural economy. Low on maintenance costs, their milk yield has not only been a succor and source of nutrition for otherwise impoverished families, their surplus has been sold by small farmers to State-run cooperatives and private companies, which further package and sell them to urban households under brands such as Amul, Vijaya, Verka, Saras, Nestle and Britannia.

The importance of cows to India’s economy, therefore, just cannot be overestimated. India is the world’s largest producer of milk. A whopping 68 percent of these milch animals are owned by small and landless farmers; their produce is distributed through over one lakh village milk cooperatives, which have more than 1.1 crore members. These arteries interconnect every strata of the country. In fact, milk is a bigger driving force for India’s agro-economy than paddy, wheat or sugar.

But in a mere 10 years, all of this could disappear. India is at the precipice of a disaster that no one seems to be trying to avert. In the run up to India’s 66th Republic Day, here’s a really sobering thought: the indigenous Indian cow — one of the country’s biggest assets — will soon cease to exist and we will be forced to import milk within a decade. This is going to have catastrophic and unimagined impact on lakhs of people.

Predictably, an almost criminal lack of government planning and foresight is responsible for this. India does possess the world’s biggest cattle herd, but typically, the individual yield of these malnourished cows is very low. Merely helping small farmers increase their cows’ food and water intake could have had miraculous results. (Indian cows, for instance, are doing really well in Brazil. In 2011, a pure Gir named Quimbanda Cal broke its own 2010 record of delivering 10,230 kilolitres of milk a year, with a daily yield of 56.17 kilolitres.) But instead of focussing on — and improving — the reasons why the yield of these cows was low in India, the government in the 1960s started crossbreeding Indian cows with imported bulls and semen.

Red Sindhi AVERAGE YIELD 6 kg | POTENTIAL 25 kg As much valued as Sahiwals for their milking prowess, this breed is slightly smaller and belongs to Sindh, now in Pakistan, Photo: Courtesy NBAGR

Sahiwal AVERAGE YIELD 7 kg | POTENTIAL 25-30 kg The best dairy breed of the subcontinent belonged to undivided Punjab. Post-Partition, much of its home tract belonged to Pakistan and the numbers have rapidly dwindled in India, Photo: Courtesy NBAGR

This practice was followed more indiscriminately with every passing decade. Over time, it’s triggered a two-pronged crisis. On the one hand, it has set off a systemic destruction of the indigenous Indian cow, which includes precious breeds developed over a millennium. On the other hand, the new exotic crossbreeds have not adapted to Indian conditions yet. In theory, these crossbreeds are capable of very high milk yields, but their capacity suffers drastically as the cows are very vulnerable to tropical weather and diseases. Unlike the indigenous cow, they also need to be kept in very high-cost, air-cooled, all-weather shelters, and require expensive stall feeding and medical care.

Clearly, the small farmer is not equipped to bear these costs of rearing exotic crossbreeds. But because of official negligence, the low-maintenance, weather-resistant local breeds are continuing to deteriorate. Rearing cattle, therefore, is fast becoming unviable for small farmers. Lakhs of them are facing a loss of livelihood; soon their families will not have access to their basic daily glass of milk — unless they can afford to buy it from big dairies with deep pockets.

But the brewing crisis does not end there. The obliteration of the desi cow will impact urban consumers too. In the next 10 years, as the new order of industrial dairy production begins to dominate, from being self-sufficient, India will not only have to import a large percentage of its milk demand, but will also become heavily dependent on importing everything from exotic semen to cattle feed for the exotic crossbreeds reared within the country. By controlling these key inputs, foreign markets will eventually decide the price we pay for exotic milk. Incidentally, unlike the milk from desi breeds, this milk is unsuitable for those susceptible to diabetes and cardiovascular problems.

Rathi

AVERAGE YIELD 5-6 kg | POTENTIAL 20-25 kg

Mostly found in Bikaner and Ganganagar districts of Rajasthan
and parts of Punjab, adjoining to Rajasthan. These are
medium-sized animals with short horns,
Photo: Courtesy NBAGR

The advantages of the exotic crossbreeds are also extremely shortlived: their yield may be higher in the short term but they also run dry much quicker. Even exotic bulls are not nearly as hardy as the desi ones.  This is triggering a separate crisis. Millions of these crossbreeds are being abandoned by owners the moment they run dry as they cannot afford their high-nutrition diet and costly healthcare. Not only are feral cattle a civic nuisance, supporting these unproductive animals is stretching the country’s already limited resources. According to a recent survey by the Punjab Gausewa Board (PGB), 80 percent of the state’s nearly one lakh stray cattle are exotic crossbreeds. Alarmed, the PGB Chairman Kimti Bhagat is leading an agitation against the state’s pro-exotic policy.

Finally, as the gene pool of the indigenous Indian cow is allowed to fade away, if some epidemic triggers a population slide in our cattle — already made vulnerable by its high percentage of exotic strains — there will be no scope for corrective intervention.

So here we are, heading with suicidal speed towards jeopardising our food security, ruining the backbone of our agro-economy and handing the control of our dairy industry to foreign markets. There are many reasons why India is poised on the edge of this disaster: each of them reads like a novella of frustration.

Gir AVERAGE YIELD 5-6 kg | POTENTIAL 20-30 kg The prized breed of Gujarat is highly valued for its milk and beef in Latin America. It was also used in North America to develop the Brahman breed. Gir animals are still available in good numbers in India, Photo: Courtesy NBAGR

ONE OF the main reasons for India’s looming milk crisis — and the disappearance of India’s desicows — is a faulty premise in official thinking about exotic crossbreeds (which no government has tried to revise despite contrary facts on ground). Add to this, a deliberate misrepresentation of the viability of desi cows and you have a window into why India will soon become an import-dependent nation.

Here’s how the story unfolds. Since 1951, milk production in India has jumped from 17 to 122 million tonnes. This might seem a positive figure, but the number is deceptively misleading because India also has the highest number of cattle in the world — 200 million — which brings the average yield per animal in milk down to only 3.23 kg. The global average is 6.68 kg.

In the next 10 years, the projected demand for milk in India will touch 180 million tones. The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) warns that if India cannot keep pace, it will have to start importing milk, leading to higher consumer prices.

Unfortunately, the response to this warning is completely knee-jerk. Governments across the country are racing to replace the desi cow even faster with exotic crossbreeds. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is planning an advanced institute of dairy farming in Mohali, in collaboration with an Israeli firm. Earlier, the state had roped in an American company to source high-quality semen. In Kerala, the animal husbandry department wants to import improved cattle breeds from Denmark to crossbreed with local cows. The NDDB itself is planning to import 100 high-yield Holstein Friesian and 300 Jersey bulls in the next five years.

Kankrej

AVERAGE YIELD 3-4 kg | POTENTIAL 15 kg

Also known as Wadhiar, Kankrej is one of the heaviest Indian
breeds and belongs to the region southeast to the Rann of
Kutch in Gujarat, Photo: Courtesy NBAGR

At a surface glance, this might seem a great option. Rajbir Singh, a middle-range farmer, who owns a large dairy farm in a village near Karnal in Haryana might certainly think so. In 2009, two of his Friesian crossbred cows — Ganga and Yamuna — were showcased by the National Dairy Research Institute in Karnal as India’s highest ever milk yielders at 51.5 and 59.5 kg a day.Last year, Yamuna, the younger of the two, died of reasons still unidentified. But Ganga remains the most remarkable of many success stories in the region where 30-35 kg milk from exotic crossbreeds is commonplace. Governments across the decades too have routinely bought into this idea that imported exotics would achieve a daily yield of 30 kg and above. Unfortunately, the facts on ground prove otherwise. Success stories like Ganga are rare: despite the huge costs in rearing them, the national average yield from exotic crossbreed cows in India stands at 6.62kg.

Contrast this with Israel. In just four decades, a dairy-deprived Israel has developed its own Friesian crossbreed cattle that have consistently started giving 26 kg of milk daily. After five decades of expensive effort, the exotic crossbreeds in India produce only one-fourth that quantity. Despite this, governments insist on pursuing this policy. Their defence is that even at 6.62 kg, the average yield of exotic crossbreeds in India is still thrice that of desi cows, which averages at 2.2 kg.

It would’ve been a relief if even that fig leaf had been true. Unfortunately, it is not. A crucial defect in India’s myopic milk policy is an over-valuation of the benefits of exotic crossbreeds and an undervaluation of the robustness of desi cows.

Tharparkar

AVERAGE YIELD 4-5 kg | POTENTIAL 15-20 kg

Also known as White Sindhi, these are hardy animals known 

for their ability to cross the Thar desert with a single drink of 

water. Larger than Red Sindhis, Tharparkars are also good 

as drought animals, Photo: Courtesy NBAGR

INDIAN COW breeds are a crucial part of the country’s ecological heritage. Since ancient times, different breeds were developed in different parts of the subcontinent by selecting the best animals for preferred traits such as their milking capacity, draught power, feeding requirements, capacity to adapt to local weather, immunity, etc. The purity of such breeds was maintained with great discipline and wisdom in each geographical pocket known as a breeding tract.

Over time, unfortunately, this social rigour was lost. Indiscriminate mating between different breeds and inferior animals within the same breed resulted in a high number of cattle of poor genetic quality. These non-descript animals today accounts for 80 percent of India’s cattle. At no point, in the past 65 years, did any government think of stepping in to preserve the careful science of crossbreeding.

But this dismal scenario is still not an accurate picture of the desi cow. India has 37 pure cattle breeds. Five of these — Sahiwal, Gir, Red Sindhi, Tharparkar and Rathi — are known for their milking prowess. A few others, such as Kankrej, Ongole and Hariana, belong to dual breeds that have both milch and draught qualities; ie, they are good plough animals. The rest are pure draught breeds.

But when official data records the average yield of indigenous cows as 2.2 kg daily, it clubs these dual breeds and non-dairy draught breeds together with the five top milch breeds. This deliberately undermines the performance of India’s best milch cows — such as Girs and Rathis — to establish the supremacy of the exotic cattle.

“Over the years, this has justified a policy that discards Indian milch breeds to promote exotic crossbreed animals. Due to this neglect, quality desi cows have become rare. So dairy farmers are easily lured to exotic cattle that start milking at a younger age but often trip soon after,” explains a senior official in the Department of Animal Husbandry, Union Ministry of Agriculture, on condition of anonymity.

Echoing this official’s views, a senior veterinarian at a government hospital in Mumbai says ruefully, “First we blame our cows for low milk yield without considering the field constraints. Then we replace those cows with exotic breeds that are more vulnerable to the same constraints. Meanwhile, our desi breeds keep setting new records abroad.”

But it’s not just Quimbanda Cal — the Gir wonder in Brazil — that is proof of how desi cows can perform with adequate support and care. There are enough examples back home.

Satyajit Khachar, for instance, has a Gir farm at Jasdan in Gujarat; he also exports bulls to Brazil. His best cows produce milk in excess of 30 kg daily; his farm average is between 18-20 kg per cow. Khachar’s farm does not necessarily have to be a startling exception. Every year, the government’s own Central Herd Registration Scheme records a number of Girs with 10-14 kg daily yield. In Rajasthan, the Urmul Trust promotes the indigenous Rathi cow in 10 villages each in Bikaner and Ganganagar districts. The average daily yield of these Rathis is between 8-10 kg, while the best produce up to 25 kg a day.

Ongole

AVERAGE YIELD 2-4 kg | POTENTIAL 10-15 kg

These cows belong to the Prakasam district of Andhra 

Pradesh. Ongole bulls were used to develop the Brahman 

breed in North America, Photo: NBAGR

Clearly, some focussed thinking on how to rejuvenate and maximise these indigenous breeds — with all their added advantages of lower maintenance cost and greater adaptability — would have stood India in great stead. But shockingly, even after five decades of promoting exotic semen and expensive imported crossbreeds, government institutes have no comparative data on the maintenance cost of different breeds. It is only in 2012 that the central ministry of animal husbandry finally commissioned a two-year project to NDRI, Karnal, to develop methodologies for estimating the cost of milk production.

This is a step that should have been taken urgently several decades ago. The sheer fatality of exclusively promoting exotic cattle over desi cattle would have become evident much earlier. The story of Ammo, a small dairy farmer in the Gautam Budh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, is profoundly telling. Ammo recently lost two exotic crossbreds that had cost her a staggering Rs 70,000 each, to foot and mouth disease after spending Rs 5,000 on their treatment. Close to her house stood tethered another “American cow” bought for just Rs 7,000. “The previous owner did not get any milk from it. I hope a local bull will perform some miracle,” says Ammo’s neighbour Sheesh Pal, explaining why he’d bought the cow.

The story of Ammo and Sheesh Pal succinctly captures the short-termism of investing in expensive crossbreeds. But the costliness of these cows or their vulnerability to disease is only one part of the picture. The argument for crossbreeds over desi cows is always presented through data skewed in other ways.

It is true that, maintained well, crossbreeds often produce milk in excess of 30 kg per day. But as their average yield in India is stuck at 6.63 kg, it’s clear that the majority of this cattle, in the care of resource-strapped farmers, is not delivering to potential. In such a scenario, quality desi cows with an average yield of 8-20 kg would be a far more lucrative option. Again, it’s true exotic crossbreeds can produce 4,500 kg per annual lactation. Desi cows, on the other hand, rarely cross 2,500 kg per lactation in standard home conditions. But, crossbreeds rarely lactate more than four times; while desis lactate 10-12 times. In effect, this means a crossbreed can only produce 18,000 kg of milk in a lifetime, while a desi can give up to 25-30,000 kg.

Unfortunately, thanks to government policy, such robust desi cows are hardly available any longer. We are witnessing the end of the Indian cow.

Such is the callousness, even a reliable breed-wise census has never been conducted in India, says Sosamma Iype, who taught at Kerala Agricultural University and revived India’s “zero-maintenance” Vechur breed, the smallest milch cattle in the world. Despite this shocking absence of official data, every piece of anecdotal evidence suggests that, except for the Gir, indigenous milch breeds in India have become extremely vulnerable.

In Uttar Pradesh, for example, there are 1.8 million exotic cows and 1.4 million desis. More than a million of these pure desis are made up of the local Hariana cattle. But, inexplicably, the state also counts some 1.51 lakh Sahiwals, a top milch breed from Punjab, and 75,000 Tharparkars, the hardy desert milcher of Rajasthan.

A district veterinary officer in western UP dismisses these figures as hallucinatory. “We do have some Sahiwals — but one and a half lakh?! And if you find me a Tharparkar here, I will felicitate the owner at my own expense,” he guffaws.

While a number of prime desi breeds such as the Red Sindhi, Sahiwal and Tharparkar are facing extinction in India today, not one exotic crossbred has been able to take their place. There is no answer from the NDRI on the field performance of Karan Fries and Karan Swiss breeds. The silence over the success of Sunandini being developed since 1965, the Friesian-Sahiwal or Sindhi-Jersey cattle is equally intriguing.

“In general, crossbreeding has not been successful,” says Dr Iype. “No exotic crossbred has stabilised till now. As long as import and use of pure exotic bulls continues, no stabilisation can be expected.”

THINGS NEED not have gone so badly wrong. Back in 1965, when an expert group was asked to formulate a cattle-breeding policy, they came up with a scientifically robust, multi-pronged approach: selective breeding of quality indigenous cows in their breeding tracts; using these improved breeds to upgrade the non-descript stock; and the use of exotic semen to upgrade non-descript cattle into exotic crossbreeds only near urban centres where dairy owners could afford to support such high-maintenance herds.

The policy was firmly against introducing exotic semen in the breeding tracts of indigenous milch breeds. So were our dairy farmers. When the NDDB was launched under Verghese Kurien, the proud Gir herders of Gujarat resisted the exotic cattle for years. One story has it that a group of local dairy farmers contemptuously dragged a few exotic crossbreeds to Kurien’s house on the day of his daughter’s marriage to give away in dowry.

But once artificial insemination became popular, the floodgates were thrown open. Like almost everything in India, the looming milk crisis is the result of a colossal planning mess.

According to Gujarat government data from Rajkot district for 2002-05, for instance, the high yield Gir was callously edged out by exotic crossbreeds in its own core breeding tract: 62,095 Gir semen straws were produced for artificial insemination in those three years. The number for exotic crossbreeds was more than double at 1,63,435.

There were many warning signs from the beginning, but unfortunately, few took heed of them. In the 1980s, a herd of Holstein Friesians capable of 8,000-kg per lactation was bought from Israel. But once they landed in Bengaluru, the animals refused to eat. So their feed too had to be imported from Israel. When the cows were finally milked, the yield was a sad 2,200 kg. Same was the story with Danish Jerseys brought around the same time to Koraput in Odisha.

“Yet,” says a retired bureaucrat, who was part of the Operation Flood team, “policy-makers trained in the West persisted with their love of European breeds. Frequent foreign sojourns to procure cattle kept the babus happy. We wanted to emulate Israel’s success story without imbibing the Israelis’ rigour. India is a vast country; we could have singled out one district for a disciplined experiment. But we did not bother.”

The country will have to pay a high price for that callousness. The practice of cross breeding ought to be very exact and carefully monitored. But unlike Israel, no records of herds and their mating patterns have been maintained in India. So, though the first generation of exotic crossbreeds showed encouraging results, as they were randomly mated, the whole thing began to backfire.

Two years ago, the NDDB finally developed its own software — Information Network for Animal Productivity and Health (INAPH) — to maintain live field data on pedigrees and the selection of the right bulls for breeding. So far, around 12 lakh animals have been registered in eight states. This, of course, is a very small percentage of India’s cattle. And the programme’s field success is yet to be established.

Holstein Friesian

AVERAGE YIELD 9-10 kg | POTENTIAL 30-40 kg

The large animals with black and white markings originated in 

northern Holland and Friesland. Known for its high milk yield, 

it has become the mainstay of the global dairy industry and 

outnumbers all other breeds in the US, Photo: Ankit Agarwal

But proof of indiscretions lies everywhere. The 11th Five-Year Plan set a target to produce a mind-boggling 40 million doses of semen every year. Less than one-fifth of the lot was indigenous. The focus on quantity also compromised the semen’s sanitary, biological and genetic quality. The overwhelming emphasis on exotic strains also lowered the conception rate. A NABARD report for Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh, quoted in the 11th Plan, put India’s overall cattle conception rate at 35 percent: the international standard is 50 percent.

A high level of inbreeding due to the massive global use of Holstein- Friesian semen from an original population of less than 100 breeding bulls has weakened the gene further. Tropical conditions make conception even more difficult and increases embryo deaths.

In 2011, an article in Farmers’ Forum by Dr OP Dhanda and Dr KML Pathak cautioned that crossbreeding had led to “higher incidences of reproductive disorders like anoestrous and repeat breeding, poor libido and lower freezability of semen… leading to a very high culling rate in bulls”.

These are not alarmist voices. Dr Dhanda was the assistant director general (animal science) at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Dr Pathak is the serving deputy director general at ICAR.

There are other factors that make crossbreeds unfeasible in India. An average exotic crossbreed, says Dr Sagari Ramdas, a veterinarian and director of NGO Anthra at Hyderabad, requires at least four times the water a local breed does. “In Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, for example, water is being literally mined to keep the exotic crossbreeds in business.”

Karan Swiss

AVERAGE YIELD 4-8 kg | POTENTIAL 25-30 kg

Work on the Karan Swiss started in 1963 at the NDRI, Karnal, 

using Sahiwal or Red Sindhis with Brown Swiss. In 1971, the 

institute started trying to cross Holstein Friesian, Brown Swiss 

and Jersey with Tharparkar before settling with HF to develop 

the Karan Fries. Neither has fully stabilised in the field. 

Photo: Ankit Agarwal

THE THREAT of extinction is not an empty one. India’s rush for exotic semen has had other major fallouts: there are few quality desi bulls left for natural mating. If a climatic upheaval or epidemic trips India’s already tottering exotic crossbreeds in the future, only infusion of indigenous genes can save the day. But, most of our pure desi breeds are likely to disappear within this decade.

This shift to exotic blood has not only damaged the domestic milk cows but also the draught breeds. The Ninth Plan had underlined the importance of animal carts for their huge employment potential in the rural economy. But many states such as Kerala have almost wiped off their sturdy draught breeds.

The fate of exotic crossbreed bulls is even worse. Vulnerable to Indian weather conditions, they are useless as draught animals. Unless they are selected as breeders, these bulls are either killed immediately after birth or starved to death. Those who escape join the long, brutal march to slaughterhouses both In India and abroad as illegal consignments. The Indian beef trade is worth 6,000-10,000 crore a year. Many believe the ineffective ban on cow slaughter has only ended up creating a revenue loss to the State and magnifying the unthinkable cruelty these animals face in transit. But even to suggest lifting the ban is anathema. India’s holy cows must be kept safe. At least on paper.

Random Crossbred

AVERAGE YIELD 0 kg | POTENTIAL Uncertain

A dry ‘American cow’ bought for Rs 7,000 by Sheesh Pal, a 

dairy farmer in Uttar Pradesh. It was a gamble: the owner was
banking on some local bull performing a miracle to make it yield milk,
Photo: Jay Mazoomdaar

WHEN VERGHESE Kurien set up Amul, he did not envision mass production of milk but “milk production by the masses”. “But the trend is moving towards industrialisation of dairying and this will eventually force the rural poor and small players out of business,” warns Dr Iype. The Tamil Nadu government distributed 12,000 Jersey and HF crossbreeds among the poor during 2011-12. Once the lactation cycle is done, what will the poor do with these white elephants tethered to their backyards?

“Our state policies are pushing us in a suicidal direction,” says Dr Ramdas. “Two companies have already taken control of the genetics of broiler poultry all over the world — from Brazil to Malaysia, including India. If we allow this to happen in agriculture and dairy, the sovereignty of our farmers will be at stake.”

A dramatic turnaround is still possible. A timely policy shift and public investment in local breeds can revive our precious bio-diversity in 25-35 years — which amounts to four to five cattle generations. “We still have the local breeds, frozen semen and the knowledge owned by farmers,” Ramdas continues. “But once lost and diluted, knowledge and breeds takes generations to revive.”

Unfortunately, though we can still turn things around, the signs are not encouraging. Free Trade Agreements with and duty exemptions to the European Union, Australia and New Zealand are likely to flood our markets with subsidised dairy products. While dairy processors in India will welcome cheap skimmed milk and butter fat and convert these into milk, the already struggling small dairy farmers may not be able to cope with the still lower procurement price.

Indian industry, of course, already has its strategies in place. As a former Amul executive explains: “Indian brands will always be competitive thanks to low cost inputs such as labour. Farmers who can’t maintain exotic crossbreds can be absorbed as farm hands in large dairies. For rural consumers who cannot afford milk cartons, we will introduce small sachets good enough for whitening a few cups of tea.”

In the emerging order, it seems that is all the traditional keepers of the Kamadhenu apparently deserve. And that is all they will get.

Size Matters

Photo: Courtesy Vechur Conservation Trust

The tiny Vechur is the world’s smallest cattle breed. No taller than 90 cm, this native of Kerala daily produces 2.5-3.5 kg of milk, which has a high fat content of 5-8 percent. Its low feed requirement and resilience to diseases have earned it the fame of ‘zero-maintenance’ cow.

Under the Livestock Improvement Act of 1961, any licencing officer in Kerala could order castration of bulls of indigenous species and a farmer had to comply within 30 days. The practice took its toll on local breeds, including the Vechur, which by 2000 figured on the FAO’s Critical-maintained Breeds List (to qualify, the number of breeding females has to be less than 100 or the number of breeding males less than five, or the overall count less than 120).

Dr Sosamma Iype, then a professor at the Kerala Agricultural University, started looking for Vechur cattle in 1988 to save the breed from extinction. With the help of a group of students under the leadership of Anil Zachariah, she founded the Vechur Conservation Trust (later Association) in 1998. Today, the Vechur is a highly sought after breed in Kerala and commands a price of  Rs 1 lakh and above.

A1 versus A2

Milk of European breeds is addictive, triggers schizophrenia,diabetes and cardiovascular diseases

In July 2007, Dr Keith Woodford, a professor of farmmanagement at New Zealand’s Lincoln Universitypublished a paper titled A2 Milk, Farmer Decisions, and Risk Management that reported how “approximately 500 New Zealand dairy farmers are converting their herds to eliminate production of A1 beta-casein within the milk” responsible for “Type 1 diabetes, heart disease and autism”.

Dr Woodford went on to explain: “The alternative (to A1) is A2 beta-casein, and the associated milk is known as A2 milk. Originally all cow milk was of the A2 type. However, a genetic mutation, probably between 5000 and 10,000 years ago, has resulted in a proportion ofcows of European breeds producing a casein variant called A1 beta-casein. A1 beta-casein is absent in the milk of pure Asian and African cattle.”

He offered “eight strands to the evidence” to the ill-effects of A1 beta-casein: countries with high intakes of A1 beta-casein are the countries with high levels of Type 1 diabetes and heart disease; A1 and A2 beta-caseindigest differently and only A1 beta-casein releases beta-casomorphin7 (BCM7) which is a powerful opioid(addictive) and causes arterial plaque; rabbits fed A1 beta-casein develop considerably more plaque on their aorta and rats show higher incidence of Type 1 diabetes;evidence from American and European investigationsshow that autistic and schizophrenic persons typically excrete large quantities of BCM7 in their urine; and many who are intolerant to milk are able to drink A2 milk.

Dr Woodford was worried that most consumers and dairy farmers worldwide remained unaware of the issues surrounding A1 and A2 milk. Within four years, Indian scientists at the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR) came up with their own study. “The A2 allele gene in Indian milk breeds of cows and buffalos are 100 per cent, while in foreign breeds, it is around 60 per cent,” it said in 2011.

NBAGR screened the status of the A2 allele of the beta-casein gene in 22 indigenous breeds and the twodominant foreign breeds Holstein Friesian and Jersey. While the A2 allele was 100 per cent in the top five indigenous milch breeds –Red Sindhi, Sahiwal,Tharparkar, Gir and Rathi – and around 94 per cent in other indigenous dual and draught breeds, its status was merely 60 per cent in Holstein Friesian and Jersey.

According to Dr Woodford, the major consumer market for A2 milk is in Australia where it is available in some 800 supermarkets and 200 convenience stores.However, overall market share is probably less than 1% because of limited publicity. In an increasingly health conscious world, this creates a huge potential for global demand for the A2 milk of our indigenous breeds. For now, we must rethink our strategy of flooding the domestic markets with A1 milk by aggressively pushing exotic breeds at home and opening up the dairy sector toforeign brands.

Credit: Article by JAY MAZOOMDAAR

Published in Tehalka ( Volume 10 Issue 5)

The Sacred Cow

Credit: Sri Jaganath Das,  
Sri Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti

Lord Krishna states in Srimad Bhagavad-Gita: chapter 10, verse 28

dhenunam asmi kamadhuk

dhenunam-among cows, asmi-I am, kamadhuk-the wish fulfilling cow

Among cows I am the wish fulfilling cow.

In this verse Lord Krishna reveals that among cows He is manifested as the kamadhuk meaning kamadhenu the original wish fulfilling cows known as the surabhi cows. Just who and what are the surabhi cows and how the surabhi cows attained such an elevated and exalted position that they are able to represent a portion of the energy of the supreme Lord Krishna will be revealed in the following information given in the Anusasana Parva of the Mahabharata by Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa.

The surabhi cow descended from the spiritual worlds and manifested herself in the heavenly spheres from the aroma of celestial nectar for the benefit of all created beings. The direct descendants of the surabhi cows are the sacred cows from the continent India which are uniquely distinguished the same as the surabhi by the beautiful hump on their backs and the wonderfully soft folds of skin under their necks. Since all cows in existence in the world today are factual descendants of the sacred cows of India they are all holy as well and should always be lovingly cared for and protected with the highest esteem and greatest respect. One should never cause harm to cows in any way even in a dream and one should never ever even think of eating the flesh of cows as there is no action more sinful in all of creation then cow killing.

Cows are the mothers of all creatures. Cows are verily the mothers of the 33 crores of demigods that administrate creation in the material existence throughout all the universes. Cows are the goddesses of the gods and the refuge of all auspiciousness. Cows bestow every kind of happiness and for these reason they always are worshippable. Cows are the support of all the worlds for by their milk they nourish terrestrials beings and by their ghee offered in sacrifice they nourish the denziens of the celestial realms. Nothing superior to cows.

A cow should not be owned by one who is a killer of cows or a seller to killers of cows, by one who is unrighteous, by one who is sinful, by one who is untruthful in speech, and by one who is outside of the Vedic culture nor should cows ever be given to one such as these. Gifts of cows should be made after ascertaining and determining the qualification of the receiver. Cows should never be given unto those whose residence they are likely to suffer from fire or sun. Cows should always be given away accompanied by their calves. Those cows who have been rescued from situations of distress or have been received from humble farmers unable to continue to take care of them properly are considered to be most auspicious.

One should never show disrepect for cows in any way nor should one feel any repugnance towards the urine and dung of a cow because these things are also pure. When cows are grazing or laying down relaxing one should never disturb or annoy them in any way. Cows should never be killed in any type of sacrifice or slaughtered in any way for food as the killing of cows constitutes the most heinous of all sins in existence.

Cows are the foremost of all creatures in all the worlds. It is from cows that the means for sustaining the worlds has established. Cows are auspicious and sacred and the bequeathers of every blessing. Cows benefit humans with milk, yoghurt, cheese, butter and ghee. The Vedas have stated that the milk of a cow is equivalent to ambrosial nectar and that ghee derived from cows milk is the best of all libations poured onto the sacred fires of brahmins.

Cows of various kinds and diverse colors are always worshippable. They are the foremost of all creatures existing in all of creation. Morning and evening one should bow ones head in reverence to cows. One should never show any disregard to cows in any way but should always show them respect. When one awakes in the morning one should always remember cows. Before falling to sleep at night one should always remember cows. Cows are always auspicious. Cows are also fragrant. The wonderful scent of the amytis agallochum emantes from out of their sacred bodies.

Cows are the great refuge of all creatures. Cows constitute the greatest source of blessings for all creatures. Cows are the past. Cows are the future. Cows are the source of evolution and eternal growth. Cows are the root of prosperity. Whatever is given to cows always produces good fortune and is never in vain. It is solely and exclusively from the ghee of cows that the sacred rituals prescribed and authorised in the Vedas are empowered and able to be performed. Without the presence of cows ghee there is no possibiity of performing sacred rituals that will gratify the 33 million demigods who are responsible for universal management. Neither will the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna be pleased and satisfied. Ghee comes exclusively only from cows from whom flow offerings of milk and milk products. Thus cows verily establish the purity of all sacred rituals and constitute the very essence of performing all sacred activities being the very source of sacred activities.

Cows represent sacred acts themselves and without cows there can be no performance of any sacred act. This is the pure, sublime and supremely exalted position and pre-eminence of cows above all creatures in all the worlds. One who knows the pre-eminence of cows and the selfless service cows render to all creatures and does not protect them affectionately is a sinner and offender and their destination is certainly hell. Cows are equal to the rays of the sun that travel through the universe giving light, warmth and nourishment.

In previous yugas the Vedic injunction was given jiyaite pare yadi tabe mare prani veda-purane ache hena ajna vane that means in the Vedic scriptures known as Puranas there are injunctions declaring that one can take the life of a living being only if they are able to revive it back to life again by chanting Vedic mantras. But we find that this injunction has been terminated in todays age of kali yuga by the Brahma-Vaivarta Purana where it is stated that in the present age of kali yuga it is forbidden to kill cows under any circumstances.

Cows are equivalent to our mothers for when the mothers milk has dried up the cow gives her milk unselfishly to noursih and strengthen us. How can one who has ever drunk cows milk justify the killing and eating of such a mother as the sacred cow. One should never even in one's mind do injury to a cow or ever think of harming cows as well as bulls. One should show all respect and compassion for cows and sincere reverence should be offered unto them all without reservation.

Those who fail to give cows reverence and protection and choose to foolishly oppose and whimsically ignore the injunctions of the Vedic scriptures by selling a cow for slaughter, by killing a cow, by eating cows flesh and by permittings the slaughter of cows will all rot in the darkest regions of hell for as many thousands of years as there are hairs on the body of each cow slain. There is no atonement for the killing of a cow.

In Sri Caitanya Caritamrita adi lila, chapter 17 verse 166 Caitanya Mahaprabhu confirms:

go-ange yata loma tata sahasra vatsara

go-vadhi raurava-madhye pace nirantar

Cow killers and cow eaters are condemned to rot in hell for as many thousands of years as there are for each hair on the body of every cow they eat from.

In comparison to the contrary, sanctified living beings with purified souls that make gifts of cows to worthy twice born in the three higher ashrams established in the Vedas attain celestial realms for as many years as there are hairs upon the body of the cows given away in charity. There is no gift higher in merit than the gift of cows to a Vaisnava or duly initiated brahmana of the Vedic culture in one of the four authorised sampradayas.

Cows constitute the highest good. Cows are the root of great blessing for all living beings.. Cows are the source of eternal growth. Cows are the past and the furure. Evolution itself depends upon cows. The mantras used for Vedic rituals such as Swaha and Vashat without which no Vedic rites are complete are eternally establishe d in cows. Cows verily are the fruit of all Vedic rituals because all Vedic rituals are dependent upon the ghee from cows for the performance of sacred rituals which benefit all of creation. Thus the protection of cows is the greatest dharma or eternal duty for all living beings.

There is no wealth that is equal to cows. To talk about cows, to hear others speak about cows, to offer gifts of cows to worthy people and to see cows are all auspicious activities. There is never any inauspiciousness in cows. On Earth cows represent high energy and are endued with the elements of strength and energetic exertion. There are also elements of great wisdom in cows and they are bestowers of great happiness upon all creatures. The country or nation where cows are protected and live without fear of slaughter becomes exalted and the sins of that country are evaporated. Cows constitute the stairs that lead to heaven. Cows are adored in heaven. Cows are goddesses competent to grant every righteous wish and desire. Verily there is nothing in the worlds more elevated or superior to cows.

Cows are superior to all yogis and ascetics and because of this liberated divine being perform their austerities in the company and presence of cows. Cows do not feel cold or heat nor can rain afflict. Cows are never to be sacrificed they are to be given as gifts to worthy brahmanas. The ruler who gives gifts of cows to the foremost of brahmanas is sure to overcome every calamity he encounters. It is ordained in the eternal Vedas that ghee from the cow is the best of all ingredients offered as libations into the sacrificial fire. For this reason one who makes a gift of a cow to worthy brahmanas who will then use the ghee from this cow to perform Vedic ceremonies, that fortunate gifter is regarded as making a gift of a libation for sacrifice. A bovine bull is considered to be the embodiment of heaven. One who offers a bovine bull to an accomplished brahmana has factually reserved themselves a place in heaven. Cows that have been rescued and protected and cared for in distress give even more merit as well as cows received from persons in distress due to an inability to properly take care of their cows.

A cow must never be given to a tiller of soil. Only a bovine bull may be given to a tiller of soil but never a cow. Neither a cow or a bull should ever be given unto one who will kill them. Nor should a cow or a bull be given unto an atheist or one who makes a business selling or trading cows. The Vedas have stated that one who gives away cows or bulls to such sinful persons suffers interminably in a hellish condition.

There is no gift that is higher in merit than the gift of cows. A cow lawfully acquired if given away in charity protects the whole dynasty of the giver. Cows are the source of that immortality which Vedic sacrifices prescribe. They have within them the nature of both the sun and the moon. Cows verily constitute and determine the eternal destiny of creation.

Cows are the life breath of all living creatures therefore one who makes a gift of a cow is said to be making a gift of life breath to all living creatures. Cows are also constituted as the great refuge of all living creatures thus one who makes a gift of a cow is said to be making a gift of that which is the great refuge of all living creatures.

When the surabhi cows first manifested from the aroma of ambrosial nectar they performed severe penance for 100,000 years for the purpose of acquiring the spiritual merit to be the foremost of all things needed for the performance of Vedic rituals and ceremonies; thus only from cow milk exclusively is sanctified ghee produced for the performance of Vedic rituals. Whatever is produced from any and all other types of milk is not authorised by Vedic scriptures and thus not being sanctioned by the Vedas can never be used in any Vedic rituals or ceremonies.

At the conclusion of the surabhi cows austerities Brahma himself appeared before them and granted their wishes blessing them with the benediction that cows would eternally be the sustainers of all creatures. This is why cows are sacred and most holy and the foremost of all creatures in creation and verily the refuge of all the worlds.

The cow is extremely important regarding the destiny of the total human species in all the worlds and creation itself that her value is impossible to overestimate. The name for cow in the Vedas is known as aghyna which means invioable. Another name is ahi which means not to be killed and another is aditi which means never to be cut into pieces.

Some scholars and indologists in India as well as from western countries without having ever experienced the Vedic culture as a way of life have speculated that cows and other animals were sacrificed in Vedic ceremonies. They take unorthodox interpretations of obscure verses in the Vedas, out of context to postulate this point of view. Two examples of this we are giving as follows.

First in the Satapatha Brahmana, 3.1.2.21 there is a gross interpolation from western scholars echoed by indolologists around the world that the great sage Yajnavalkya would eat the tender meat of cows and bulls. The word dhenu which they translated as cow factually refers to the milk products of the cow only and not the cow herself and the sanskrit word anaduh factually refers to the grains produced by the bull from ploughing the fields. What exactly Yajnavalkya has stated in this verse is that he can eat what is amsala. The interpolators, some being ignorant and some not so ignorant of the rules of Panini have translated amsala as being tender flesh. Panini is the authority on all matters concerning the rules of Sanskrit grammar and according to sutra 5.2.8 of Panini the word amsala can only mean nourishing and strength bestowing. Also in the Amarakosa 2.6.44 it states that amsala is mamsala which never applies to flesh tender or otherwise. Mamsala specifically aplies to cream and sweets made from milk products as well as fresh and dried fruits. So there is no basis according to sastra for translating amsala as flesh.

Secondly some scholars with an extremely limited fund of knowledge want to postulate that meat was an essential ingreient of madhuparka because of one verse in the Rig Veda VI.44.21 which equates Indra as having the strength of a bull and also mentions the sweet drink madhupeya. So they then interpolated the translation to say that bull meat was a part of madhuparka. In this way due to their academic status they are able to mislead the public. The root word madhu means sweet and is sometimes even referred to honey. In the Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary page 780 the meaning of madhuparka is offerrings of honey and milk also sometimes containing equal parts of curds and ghee to a respected guest. No where in the Vedas can be found any reference to meat being an ingredient of madhuparka.

So other examples like the previous two interpolators have found useful for their obscure translations; but the clear, direct, unequivocal statements found throughout the Vedas against cow killing they ignore. We will give a few relevant examples now.

In the Rig Veda X.87.16 we find: One who partakes of human flesh, the flesh of a horse or of another animal and deprives others from milk by slaughtering cows ; if such a fiend does not desist then even cut off their heads by your powers Oh king.

In the Atharva Veda VIII.6.23 we find: Those who eat cooked or uncooked flesh, who eat eggs and embryos are following an evil addiction that must be put to an end

In the Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 11, chapter 5, verse 14 we find: Those who are ignorant of the absolute truth and believe they are virtuous although wicked and arrogant who kill animals without any feeling of remorse or fear of punishment are devoured by those very same animals in their next birth.

In the Mahabharata, Anusasana-parva, 115.43 -116.45 we find: That wretch among men who pretending to follow the path of righteousness prescribed in the Vedas, would kill living creatures from greed of flesh would certainly go to hellish regions.

In the Manu-samhita, chapter 4, verse 162 we find: A guru, a teacher, a father, a mother, a brahmana, a cow and a yogi all should never be killed.

Even in the Old Testament of the Bible which applies to both Christians and Jews in Issaih, chapter 66 verse 3 we find: He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man. He that sacrifices a lamb is as if he slit a dogs neck, he that offereth it as an oblation is as if he offered swines blood, he that burneth it as incense as if he blessed an idol. Yea they have chosen their way and their soul delighteth in their abominations.

In the Mahabharata, Anusasana-parva, 114.6, 115.6 it states: As the footprints of all moving, living beings are engulfed in those of the elephant, even thus all religions are to be understood by ahimsa which is non-violence to any living being by thought, words or actions.

So from these examples it can be clearly understood that cow killing and cow eating were definitely not sanctioned by the Vedic scriptures to the contrary they were condemned; and also according to the authority of the Bible cow killing is not sanctioned in the Christian religion either.

Just recently in the year 2000 the publication Scientific America reported a complete Cow Human Genome comparison had been completed. Among the 768 genes on the cattle RH map, 687 genes or 89.5% had putative human orthologs. Among the 687 mapped genes, 548 genes had human GB4 RH mapping information. 22 were mapped exclusively on the G3 panel and 68 had human cytogenetic assignments exclusively.

All cow chromosomes with the possible exception of BTA9 and BTA23 have centromere repositioning relative to human chromosomes. Four cattle chromsomes show complete conservation of syntegy with their human homologs. The four are: BTA12 and HSA13, BTA19 and HSA17, BTA24 and HSA18, BTAX and HSAX . For all of these chromosomes multiple rearrangements were observed. BTA3 was the only cow chromosome that showed no internal rearrangments when compared with the homologous segment on HSA1. Fifteen cattle chromosomes are seen to be comprised of genes found on only one human chromosome.

Cow milk is the most compatible with human mothers milk then any other species in existence. This is because the DNA of the cow was specifically constructeds to be harmonious with mammalian human DNA. So it can be clearly understood that cow DNA was designed so humans could benefit from cows products being milk, cheese, butter, cream and yoghurt.

We will end our treatise now as we do not want this discourse to be to voluminous.

This knowledge is highly esoteric and confidential and incomprehensible to those outside the purview of the Vedic culture. It can only be known by that segment of society that is spiritually developed enough to completely abstain from all animal killing and flesh eating while understanding that the soul is eternal and exists in all living beings.

Can We answer this Question?

Jesus and first Christians were vegetarians and friends of animals

Moris Hoblaj, Theology and Sociology graduate, writer of critical articles about church.

Jesus and first Christians were vegetarians and friends of animals

Moris Hoblaj was born in Štrukovec near Čakovec in Croatia. He went to high school in Zagreb and studied philosophy, theology and sociology in Zagreb and München. Today he lives near Würzburg and is engaged in production of vegetarian food. In his free time he writes critical articles about church. He left the Church as theologian – teacher of religious studies because he believes that the Catholic Church with its hierarchic absolutistic arrangement and rigid dogmatic teaching is not even close to the message of Jesus of Nazareth. He says that the Bible clearly shows that Jesus of Nazareth was a democrat and a pacifist and that the religious caste of that time prosecuted him with the help of the authorities because of his teaching and at the end crucified him. Moris says: „I think the same thing would happen today if Jesus of Nazareth would come to Vatican and asked for what is written in the Bible – to respect only one Holy Father or for people to stop slaughtering and eating animals.“

Does God’s commandment „Do not kill!“ refer only to people or also to animals? It is difficult to picture Jesus telling people that slaughtering and torturing animals is alright!

God is perfect and when he says „Do not kill!“, he means everything that lives and feels. This commandment includes every living creature, both people and animals, and in broader sense even plants. God let us know through His prophets that He does not want us to kill the animals. Prophet Isaiah wrote: „Killing an ox is the same as killing a person.“ It is interesting that the Catholic Church does not respect this part of the Bible, has nothing against killing animals and does not support vegetarians. In the Middle Ages, at the time of inquisition, Catholic Church was even prosecuting and killing the members of all religious communities, where vegetarianism was a part of religious belief, such as Manicheans, Cathars, Bogumils and several others. It is known that members of these communities were against torturing and killing animals for food out of their belief and respect for animals.

The Catholic Church should therefore fight for the rights of animals. Why is this not so?

The reason seems to be that the self called followers of Jesus Christ with different mitres and tiaras, Holy Fathers, Excellencies, Cardinals and Bishops preferred power over people and animals to the succession of Jesus Christ, who was a pacifist and loved animals. Almost every Christian Institution betrays Jesus Christ and His teaching with its attitude to animals and definitions of animals. This is stated also in authentic historic documents that confirm that Jesus of Nazareth and first Christians were vegetarians and friends of animals. The Bible includes the words of Jesus:„Whatever you do to one of the living beings, you do it to Me.“ Jesus was not a hunter as many of His self called followers, who are proud that they were or are passionate hunters, which are murderers of the animals, such as Cardinal Franc Rode.

Why does the Church have such underestimating attitude to animals and people with different views?
This is a wide-ranging issue which reaches the core of state Catholicism in history as well as today. Today it is no secret that the bloody history of the Church is founded on the so called theological doctrines, such as doctrine about a fair war, existence of eternal curse, non-existence of soul before birth in the case of humans as well as animals. Just by reading the Bible anyone can be sure that the prophets and Jesus of Nazareth loved animals, while religious castes and their followers did not or loved just their dead bodies. They used dead bodies of the animals in pagan ritual worshiping of God, such as blessing of meat at Easter or Hubert’s masses.

In order to hide from the followers the non-acceptance of the prophets and Jesus of Nazareth, instead of prophetic divine declarations the clergy created its own absolutistic and forced dogmatic theology, which is far from divine.

You are asking, why the Church underestimates animals? It is known from prophetic essays that animals are constantly connected to their Creator, that they are constantly worshiping Him and that He immensely loves them. This may be the reason for its underestimating attitude to animals. Church theology convinced people that animals have no soul and thus people learned to have materialistic attitude to animals. To people animals became merely soulless dead objects that can only be used for food and clothes and towards which theology allows any possible brutality, such as laboratory tests. Although people, especially politicians, should know from the Bible that religious caste caused Jesus of Nazareth a great deal of problems, prosecuted him, slandered him and at the end crucified him because of his teaching that God and people do not need clergy, these religious people and politicians remain faithful, throughout the history and today, to the clergy, who according to facts manipulates them from religious as well as from political and economical point of view. It is true that today the Church cannot kill people, who oppose it, or burn them at the stake, but it can discriminate and slander them and together with its political vassals and different insulting and dangerous concepts, such as sect or sectarian, makes them look bad in public.

It is obvious that parts about Jesus’ love for animals were deleted from the Bible. When and why?
In all religions power and money always play the key role. Historical facts tell us that in year 313 Constantine’s edict replaced religious leaders, who were the carriers of prophetic words, with managers of material properties of the first Christians – deacons, elders and Bishops, who made a pact with Constantine. With his help they became leaders of a privileged religion and formulators of state authority. For these favors the Emperor Constantine requested counter favors of the new state religion, which he also got. Thus, in comparison to the first Christians, who were not soldiers and were against war, the state church, later Catholic Church, promised to Emperor its support in recruiting soldiers. It promised the Emperor support in warfare and to fight against everything that the Emperor would not approve of, among other things also against other religious movements. This newly based state religion also needed a certain authorized Holy Book, the Bible, in which the Christians would have to believe and which would bring power to clergy over everything and everybody as well as wealth and luxury.

Many experts and theologians are of the opinion that a lot of today’s Biblical Essays were manipulated at the very beginning of their formation, as also tell us authentic historical records and authors or translators – formulators of today’s Bible.

Can you state an example of forgery of God’s word?
One example is St. Hieronimus who was given a task by Pope Damasus to formulate and translate a unique work. This work is today named the Vulgate or the Bible. Hieronimus wrote to the Pope: „…I have several different translations of which I have to make one uniform work, which is impossible, therefore I have to formulate something completely new and that will probably make me a forger of holy essays.“ Hieronimus had to formulate the Bible in accordance to the teaching of the state church, which means he could not include some basic truths of the written teaching of Jesus of Nazareth, which was known at that time. These truths were especially essays of reincarnation, nonexistence of eternal curse, truth about the animals in relation to Jesus’ love for them. All this was not allowed to be included in the Bible, which today many Christians think is the authentic God’s word, so that there could exist a privileged state religion that has nothing in common with the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth, except for His name, with which the Church manipulates religious people.

Where can be found more about Jesus’ vegetarian life and His living in harmony with animals?
First, there are apocrypha from the time of the first Christians. These are not part of Biblical texts. Then there are many Roman state documents from the time of the first Christians and Christian movements that talk about the prosecution of these movements because they followed the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth and vegetarianism as one of the main truths. These are foremost essays of Manicheans, Cathars, Bogumils or the essays of the Grand Christians in Universal Life. In one of the most recent leaflets Great Gabriella’s letter No 4 it is stated that the great Church Father Hieronimus (331–420 A.D.) wrote about vegetarianism in one of his essays the following: „Until the Flood, consumption of animal meat was unknown. From the Flood on our mouths are full of fibers and smelly juices of animal meat… Jesus Christ, who came when the time was right, made ends meet again and now consumption of animal meat is not allowed anymore“.
The Apostle Paul wrote in his official letter to Romans: „We know that all beings breathe and suffer together. Beings await in fear for people to recognize themselves as God’s children, as all beings shall once be freed from the slavery of circle of mortality into the ultimate freedom of God’s children“.
John the Goldenmouth (354–457 A.D.) describes life of a certain group of Christians of that time: „They do not shed blood, slaughter and cut meat… There is no horrible smell of meat… no raging and terrible uproar. They only eat bread they earn with their work and drink spring water. When they wish for a luxury meal they eat fruits and enjoy more than at King’s table“. I know a lot of historical researches about life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, but the most authentic and comprehensive is the book This is My Word. Alpha and Omega. The Gospel of Jesus. A Christ-Revelation which the world does not know., in which He, who walked this Earth as Jesus Christ, explains in details about what really happened at the time of His life.

In one of the newspapers there was an interview with former Slovenian Archbishop, Cardinal Franc Rode, in which he said that he was once a passionate hunter, but the new hunting law does not allow him to shoot wild animals as much as before. How do you comment his statement?
This surely is not something Jesus Christ would approve of. Those, who on vile impulse treat animal like this, kill them with a gun, slaughter and at the end eat them, as Archbishop said in the interview, are well described in the statement of the first president of the Federal Republic of Germany, Theodor Heuss (1884–1963): „Hunting is a definition of a very cowardly murder of a helpless being. Hunting is a parallel form of a mental illness“. Jesus of Nazareth, in whose name Franc Rode thinks is acting, did not teach nor do so. He was a pacifist and loved animals. Unfortunately, the hunting of Franc Rode is not the only wickedness toward animals in connection to torturing and killing animals that has full support of the Church. There are also the so called Hubert’s masses. These are offered by his college Bishops and priests in front of dead bodies of animals that are blessed at the end of the mass.

Tolstoy said: „As long as there are slaughter houses there will be wars!“ Is the Catholic Church, which abuses the fifth commandment, also responsible for violence and wars all over the world?
Even the late Pope John Paul II obviously did not doubt it, otherwise he would not ask for forgiveness of the victims, who were killed by suns and daughters of his organization. Many historians and free-thinking people are of the opinion that the Catholic Church carries a great deal of responsibility for wars that happened in the last 1700 years because it was ethically-moral institution of the authority or it was the authority itself, which means that it was actively deciding for wars. It is a historical fact that churches, which claim to be the followers of Jesus of Nazareth, from the time of their establishment in year 313, have caused only suffering, problems and deaths to people as well as to animals and nature. Just think about the Crusades, the Middle Ages, burning of witches at the stake, massacre of Catholic Croatians over Orthodox Serbs in a period 1941–1943 in Yugoslavia – former Pope asked for forgiveness for this crime in Banja Luka.
It is almost impossible to believe that an organization, such as the Catholic Church, has been killing, prosecuting and, as at the time of inquisition, slaughtering people and animals for almost two thousand years, without people being able to fight against it, and all this in the name of Prince of peace, Jesus Christ.

Resource: Magazine Liberation of animals, April 2004,
Edited by The Society for the Rights and the Liberation of Animals,
Slovenia, info@osvoboditev-zivali.org , www.osvoboditev-zivali.org
Damjan Likar

Back to Bull Power -On Small Farms, Hoof Power Returns

High fuel costs have some farmers returning to animal labor to help with farming, trading tractors for oxen

CourtesyNew York Times - May 2011

ON a sunny Sunday just before the vernal equinox, Rich Ciotola set out to clear a pasture strewn with fallen wood. The just-thawed field was spongy, with grass sprouting under tangled branches. Late March and early April are farm-prep time here in the Berkshires, time to gear up for the growing season. But while many farms were oiling and gassing up tractors, Mr. Ciotola was setting out to prepare a pasture using a tool so old it seems almost revolutionary: a team of oxen.

Standing just inside the paddock at Moon in the Pond Farm, where he works, he put a rope around Lucas and Larson, his pair of Brown Swiss steer. He led them to the 20-pound maple yoke he had bought secondhand from another ox farmer, hoisted it over their necks and led them trundling through the fence so they could begin hauling fallen logs.

Mr. Ciotola, 32, is one of a number of small farmers who are turning — or rather returning — to animal labor to help with farming. Before the humble ox was relegated to the role of historical re-enactor, driven by men in period garb for child-friendly festivals like pioneer days, it was a central beast of burden. After the Civil War, many farms switched from oxen to horses. Although Amish and Mennonite communities continue to use horses, by World War II most draft animals had been supplanted by machines that allowed for ever-faster production on bigger fields.

Now, as diesel prices skyrocket, some farmers who have rejected many of the past century’s advances in agriculture have found a renewed logic in draft power. Partisans argue that animals can be cheaper to board and feed than any tractor. They also run on the ultimate renewable resource: grass.

“Ox don’t need spare parts, and they don’t run on fossil fuels,” Mr. Ciotola said.

Animals are literally lighter on the land than machines.

“A tractor would have left ruts a foot deep in this road,” Mr. Ciotola noted.

In contrast, oxen or horses aerate the soil with their hooves as they go, preserving its fertile microbial layers. And as an added benefit, animals leave behind free fertilizer.

David Fisher, whose Natural Roots Community Supported Agriculture program in Conway, Mass., sells vegetables grown exclusively with horsepower, said he is getting record numbers of applicants for his apprentice program. “There’s an incredible hunger for this kind of education,” he said.

Mr. Fisher discovered farming with horses more than a decade ago as an intern on a farm in Blue Hill, Me. It stuck.

“Using animals is just really appealing to the senses,” he said, adding that he found it philosophically appealing as well. “There’s a deep environmental crisis right now, and live power is also about creating an alternative to petroleum. Grass is a solar powered resource — and you don’t need manufacturing plants or an engineering degree to make a horse go.”

Drew Conroy, a professor of applied animal science at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, who is known in draft-power circles as “the ox guru,” notes that horses and even mules are seeing a comeback. Each animal has its niche.

“Ox are cheap and easy to train but they’re essentially bovine, which is to say, smart but slow,” he said. Horses are faster, more spirited, trickier to train and more expensive to buy and to keep. Professor Conroy notes that mules are better suited to Southern weather. “In the heat, an ox will just stop,” he said.

Even their most ardent supporters concede that draft animals are likely to remain minor features of the rural landscape. For starters, they are cost effective only on small farms. They are also time intensive, performing well only when they can be worked every day, and becoming temperamental when neglected.

On Mr. Ciotola’s first day out with his oxen, he had to struggle with the fact that the long winter had left them rusty. At one point they pulled over and came to a full stop in the bushes. He walked in front of them and tapped them gently. “They’ve been cooped up all winter, so they get restless,” he said. Indeed, getting Lucas and Larson to go is a much more involved process than turning a key, and even at top speed they are far slower than a tractor. They plod, and Mr. Ciotola must plod along with them.

“You still have to walk nine miles for every planted acre,” said Dick Roosenberg, the founder of Tillers International, a 430-acre farm learning center in Scotts, Mich. A former Peace Corps volunteer, Mr. Roosenberg helped farmers who practiced hand cultivation in third world countries learn about oxen. Eventually, he also taught ox techniques to interpreters at historic communities like Plimouth Plantation.

But now Mr. Roosenberg’s plowing workshops fill with a new demographic: farmers from Wisconsin, Minnesota and even Alaska who hope to use animal power in their fields. Last year, about 320 signed up.

“It’s suddenly not just historic replication, it’s reinvention,” he said. “A new generation wants to do this again, now.”

Oxen are also cheap, at least compared to a tractor, and can work for 10 to 14 years. Since the dairy industry relies on keeping cows pregnant so they lactate, millions of baby bulls are born each year. A pair of calves start at $150 and range up to $1,500, depending on their breed and how much training they have.

Some dairies even give their young males away. Mr. Ciotola got Lucas and Larson, now 2 ½, as wobbly-kneed babies from a nearby raw-milk dairy, bartering for them with his own labor. “I just had to buy or make the yokes and cart,” he said.

Farmers who want to learn the old art of draft power sometimes find their education in odd places. Dominic Palumbo, Moon in the Pond’s owner and chief farmer, learned to plow with an oxen team by way of an intern from Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, Mass., which replicates an 18th-century Shaker community. Mr. Ciotola first learned to work his team from Mr. Palumbo, then later refined his skills by studying a DVD called “Training Oxen,” made in 2003 by Dr. Conroy.

The film is something of a cult classic in the draft-power community, and in sections covering topics from “the yoke” to “stall etiquette,” the movie pictures Dr. Conroy and his partner, Tim Huppe, working with New Hampshire farmers who raise oxen from their cute baby phases through their slightly belligerent adolescence. It also features each of Mr. Huppe’s four daughters leading her own team around the farm.

Interest in ox-farming became so strong that in 2005 Dr. Conroy and Mr. Huppe began hosting three-day workshops at Sanborn Mills Farm in Loudon, N.H.. At first they were surprised to find themselves emerging as minor celebrities on the draft-power circuit. After all, they had learned ox-pulling as teenagers in 4-H clubs at a time when the activity was mostly seen in shows. “It used to be kind of a cultural thing, a county fair thing,” Dr. Conroy said.

But Mr. Huppe, who sells yokes, oxbows, carts, goads and other gear at his store, BerryBrook Ox Supply, in Farmington, N.H., said his clientele is changing.

“It used to be 15 percent small farmers,” he said. “Now the farmers are more like 60 percent.” About his workshops, Mr. Huppe said, “I feel like the Johnny Appleseed of oxen.”

As draft power spreads, a 7,000-year-old technology is being looked at in different ways.. Some young farmers are developing a hybrid practice, using oxen to supplement, rather than replace, tractors. Some use them just to log and plow, while others have their teams haul machines with engines. Even this can be energy efficient.

“If you use animals to pull a motorized hay-baler,” Mr. Roosenberg said, “you can bale hay pretty fast with about one-third the gas.”

Mr. Ciotola, who does not yet own his own land but who makes his living doing jobs at Moon in the Pond and other Berkshire farms, does have a lightweight tractor, a 1949 Farmall Cub that is particularly suited to small acreages. Some of its accessories — the manure spreader, stone rake and disc harrow — can also be fitted to the ox-drawn forecart he bought from Mr. Huppe’s store.

As the spring morning passed, he continued breaking his team into their third season, walking alongside Lucas’s left side, talking softly. About three hours in, after Lucas pulled into the bushes, Mr. Ciotola turned to head out for one more load, and Lucas pulled back toward the paddock. Mr. Ciotola decided to let him go.

“Lucas is always the troublemaker,” he noted, patting the blond steer. “He’s been restless all winter, but then he gets stubborn.”

For Mr. Ciotola, the most challenging aspect of working with his oxen is finding the time it takes to break them in.

“The best pairs need to get worked every day, and that’s hard for me because I have to do other work during the winters,” he said.

Even though Lucas and Larson now stand 5 feet tall and weigh 1,500 pounds each, they are not yet fully grown. Over the next two years, they will each gain 500 pounds and grow two feet. At that point, they will easily be able to pull 4,000 pounds. Mr. Ciotola wants to have them in prime shape for logging, plowing and haying.

After this season’s first expedition, they stood calmly in the dung-scented paddock, rolling their eyes and flicking their tails as Mr. Ciotola brushed them. Larson ambled off to eat some hay.

“Even when it’s tough with them, it’s better than spending a day with a tractor,” he said.

Then again, there was that time when he nearly took a horn to the groin.

“A tractor doesn’t do that either,” he said.

Krsihna is Kamadenu among The Cows

Courtesy Gajanan Krishna Maharaj ( Bhagyanagar)
Lord Krishna states in Srimad Bhagavad-Gita: chapter 10, verse 28 dhenunam asmi kamadhuk
dhenunam-among cows, asmi-I am, kamadhuk-the wish fulfilling cow
Among cows I am the wish fulfilling cow.

In this verse Lord Krishna reveals that among cows He is manifested as the kamadhuk meaning kamadhenu the original wish fulfilling cows known as the surabhi cows. Just who and what are the surabhi cows and how thesurabhi cows attained such an elevated and exalted position that they are able to represent a portion of the energy of the supreme Lord Krishna will be revealed in the following information given in the Anusasana Parva of the Mahabharata by Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa.

The surabhi cow descended from the spiritual worlds and manifested herself in the heavenly spheres from the aroma of celestial nectar for the benefit of all created beings. The direct descendants of the surabhi cows are the sacred cows from the continent India which are uniquely distinguished the same as the surabhi by the beautiful hump on their backs and the wonderfully soft folds of skin under their necks. Since all cows in existence in the world today are factual descendants of the sacred cows of India they are all holy as well and should always be lovingly cared for and protected with the highest esteem and greatest respect. One should never cause harm to cows in any way even in a dream and one should never ever even think of eating the flesh of cows as there is no action more sinful in all of creation then cow killing.

Cows are the mothers of all creatures. Cows are verily the mothers of the 33 crores of demigods that administrate creation in the material existence throughout all the universes. Cows are the goddesses of the gods and the refuge of all auspiciousness. Cows bestow every kind of happiness and for these reason they always are worshippable. Cows are the support of all the worlds for by their milk they nourish terrestrials beings and by their ghee offered in sacrifice they nourish the denziens of the celestial realms. Nothing superior to cows.

A cow should not be owned by one who is a killer of cows or a seller to killers of cows, by one who is unrighteous, by one who is sinful, by one who is untruthful in speech, and by one who is outside of the Vedic culture nor should cows ever be given to one such as these. Gifts of cows should be made after ascertaining and determining the qualification of the receiver. Cows should never be given unto those whose residence they are likely to suffer from fire or sun. Cows should always be given away accompanied by their calves. Those cows who have been rescued from situations of distress or have been received from humble farmers unable to continue to take care of them properly are considered to be most auspicious.

One should never show disrepect for cows in any way nor should one feel any repugnance towards the urine and dung of a cow because these things are also pure. When cows are grazing or laying down relaxing one should never disturb or annoy them in any way. Cows should never be killed in any type of sacrifice or slaughtered in any way for food as the killing of cows constitutes the most heinous of all sins in existence.

Cows are the foremost of all creatures in all the worlds. It is from cows that the means for sustaining the worlds has established. Cows are auspicious and sacred and the bequeathers of every blessing. Cows benefit humans with milk, yoghurt, cheese, butter and ghee. The Vedas have stated that the milk of a cow is equivalent to ambrosial nectar and that ghee derived from cows milk is the best of all libations poured onto the sacred fires of brahmins.

Cows of various kinds and diverse colors are always worshippable. They are the foremost of all creatures existing in all of creation. Morning and evening one should bow ones head in reverence to cows. One should never show any disregard to cows in any way but should always show them respect. When one awakes in the morning one should always remember cows. Before falling to sleep at night one should always remember cows. Cows are always auspicious. Cows are also fragrant. The wonderful scent of the amytis agallochum emantes from out of their sacred bodies.

Cows are the great refuge of all creatures. Cows constitute the greatest source of blessings for all creatures. Cows are the past. Cows are the future. Cows are the source of evolution and eternal growth. Cows are the root of prosperity. Whatever is given to cows always produces good fortune and is never in vain. It is solely and exclusively from the ghee of cows that the sacred rituals prescribed and authorised in the Vedas are empowered and able to be performed. Without the presence of cows ghee there is no possibiity of performing sacred rituals that will gratify the 33 million demigods who are responsible for universal management. Neither will the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna be pleased and satisfied. Ghee comes exclusively only from cows from whom flow offerings of milk and milk products. Thus cows verily establish the purity of all sacred rituals and constitute the very essence of performing all sacred activities being the very source of sacred activities.

Cows represent sacred acts themselves and without cows there can be no performance of any sacred act. This is the pure, sublime and supremely exalted position and pre-eminence of cows above all creatures in all the worlds. One who knows the pre-eminence of cows and the selfless service cows render to all creatures and does not protect them affectionately is a sinner and offender and their destination is certainly hell. Cows are equal to the rays of the sun that travel through the universe giving light, warmth and nourishment.

In previous yugas the Vedic injunction was given jiyaite pare yadi tabe mare prani veda-purane ache hena ajna vanethat means in the Vedic scriptures known as Puranas there are injunctions declaring that one can take the life of a living being only if they are able to revive it back to life again by chanting Vedic mantras. But we find that this injunction has been terminated in todays age of kali yuga by the Brahma-Vaivarta Purana where it is stated that in the present age of kali yuga it is forbidden to kill cows under any circumstances.

Cows are equivalent to our mothers for when the mothers milk has dried up the cow gives her milk unselfishly to noursih and strengthen us. How can one who has ever drunk cows milk justify the killing and eating of such a mother as the sacred cow. One should never even in one's mind do injury to a cow or ever think of harming cows as well as bulls. One should show all respect and compassion for cows and sincere reverence should be offered unto them all without reservation.

Those who fail to give cows reverence and protection and choose to foolishly oppose and whimsically ignore the injunctions of the Vedic scriptures by selling a cow for slaughter, by killing a cow, by eating cows flesh and by permittings the slaughter of cows will all rot in the darkest regions of hell for as many thousands of years as there are hairs on the body of each cow slain. There is no atonement for the killing of a cow.