The Unaffordable Price to Pay
The heat, the dust and the din make the cattle edgy. Hallikar bulls are made to walk and run in front of prospective buyers in a show of their physical strength and health. Their mouths are prised open and teeth examined to gauge their age and health. The younger the bull, the better it is for the farm. Milch cows are milked on the spot to assess the yield.
“The teats of the cow has nerves that strengthen once it starts milking. There are three or four nerves which show up,” says farmer JD Shetty, showing his cow. His friend Sidda Shetty says, “We look at its teeth to see if it has four teeth or six teeth. A cow generally gives birth when it has two centre incisors. And worn out teeth indicates that the cow is old”.
For a small and medium farmer here, livestock is an asset, something that could be traded for a quick profit, mostly in times of emergency. Most…