Mumbai - At a care home for cows just outside the Indian city of Mumbai, dedicated staff lovingly tend to the every need of its ageing bovine residents, recently saved from slaughterhouses.
"We feed them, we bathe them and if something happens to them we feel bad," says Sitaram Mangashid, a worker at the Shree Gopala Gaushala in India's western Maharashtra state.
Shree Gopala is one of an estimated 25,000 gaushalas, or "cow shelters", in India providing cattle with sanctuary from illegal slaughter and comfortable surroundings to while away their twilight years.
Home to some 450 cows -- considered sacred by India's Hindu majority -- the shelter is experiencing an influx of elderly bovines since Maharashtra's government toughened a beef ban three months ago.
"A cow is like a mother to us and it is our duty to look after them," explains the centre's secretary, Sudhir Ranade.
"It is wrong to think that the cow is only of use to us while it gives milk and then once it stops we should just discard it."
The ban was sought by hardline Hindus and is seen by religious minorities as a sign of their growing power since nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a landslide general election last year.
The new law, which criminalised even the possession of beef, has also sparked fears for the future of the state's mostly Muslim butchers and cattle traders.
Formed in 2002, the privately run gaushala describes itself on its website as "a home for hapless cows and cattle".
Employing 45 staff, it currently houses around 1,600 animals, including bulls, bullocks, calves and water buffalo.
Some cows were brought to the home by their owners after becoming too old to be of any use to them while others were rescued from the clutches of unlawful slaughterhouses.
Several were taken in after being hit by vehicles, while a few abandoned cattle had become ill from ingesting plastic after munching through rubbish in search of food.
Surgery is performed on the injured cows and each one is tenderly nursed until it breathes its last. When the time comes, a priest is on hand to perform the last rites.
"He prays that the soul of the departed lies in peace and a small ritual is performed using a garland or some flowers," Ranade explains to AFP over a cup of fresh milk.
AFP
