One of the cattle that underwent a surgery at Blue Cross of India, Velachery.

By: Sukshma.R@timesgroup.com

CHENNAI: A bitter truth on the eve of World Animal Day (October 4). Blue Cross of India (BCI) says almost 90% of the cattle roaming Chennai have plastic waste in their guts, thanks to residents and government agencies dumping it indiscriminately on roads and in bins.

The harmful material, unless removed quickly, leads to a host of conditions and finally death.

"Unlike cats, dogs and even pigs, which feed selectively, ruminants like cows and goats tend to gulp food down without separating foreign bodies like plastic and metal," said Dr P Dhanapalan, a veterinarian. Stray cattle in urban areas are exposed to a variety of harmful foreign bodies, feeding indiscriminately on garbage that includes plastic. While food is fermented, material like plastic, metal or even cloth remains undisturbed in the rumen. Studies show that of the material that can accumulate in the rumen of cattle, more than 50% is plastic waste, said Dr Dhanapalan.

Such harmful material can stay and build in the animal's rumen for years leading to anorexia, starvation, constipation, difficulty in breathing and finally death, he said.

The only cure is removing the foreign material through rumenotomy. "We cut open the rumen area after giving local anesthesia. Surgeons open the rumen wall and remove all foreign material inside. Later, two-thirds of the rumen is filled with balls of fodder and re-sutured," said Dr Dhanapalan.

"These surgeries are gruesome. Often, we remove 20kg-30kg of material in wet weight from inside the rumen of cows brought here," said Vinod Kumar, BCI general manager (administration). Further, older cattle tend to have complications and may not even be suitable to be operated upon. "The only way to reduce the suffering in such cases is perhaps to put the animal down," added Vinod Kumar. The BCI has carried out approximately 110 rumenotomies since 2015, with only 80 of the animals survived. The chances of an animal developing rumenotomy increases with age, added Dr Dhanapalan.

