The past few weeks have witnessed at least nine male calves being abandoned, allegedly by farmers, in Pune. A local animal rescue centre has taken these young bovines under its wing.
The abandoned male calves are of the Jersey breed. This is for the first time that the animal rescue shelter has got so many calves… “It’s a disturbing trend,” said Devyani Lone, founder of Paws for Life Foundation, which normally rescues abandoned, injured and sick cats and dogs.

Some of these calves had been left close to the shelter located on Pune-Solapur Road. “Most of them were brought there by farmers who told us to take these calves,” said Lone.
“The farmers choose to keep the female calf, knowing well that she will produce milk sooner or later… but the male bovine is of no use to them, not even for work on the farm,” Lone said, pointing out that it is only the desi (local breed) cows that can be used for agriculture work.
She said that the calves are also subjected to cruelty. “Typically, the mother cow produces 30 litres of milk a day, of which only half a litre is given to the calves as against their requirement of 3 litres.”
Often, the calves, including females, are kept away from their mothers the day they are born, she said, adding that they are not allowed to suckle mother’s milk. The calves, she said, are fed the milk either from a vessel or a feeding bottle, much of which trickles into their nostrils.
It’s not easy for the young ones to survive on external milk, she said, adding that the veterinarian at their rescue shelter administers multi-vitamins to fortify these abandoned babies. “After abandonment, they do survive for up to six months. Beyond that, their immunity level drops… chances of survival are rather slim,” said Lone.
Currently struggling financially to maintain these calves which need 3 litres of milk a day, the rescue centre is now appealing to people’s sense of charity to tide over the additional cost factor they have been facing in recent times.
She pointed out that it is sad to see these “far too young” abandoned calves being weaned away from their mothers barely days after their birth. “When they see you, they keep mooing, licking your hands…,” she said. “Like they are begging to be taken back to their mother.”