carlysue Loc: Columbus

Interesting and educational for me. Although the cow looked thin, she must be able to thrive in her life on the streets..she can still produce milk. And its the life she knows. People (and animals) doing the best they can with what they have and what they know.

Graham Smith Loc: Cambridgeshire UK

Cows are a contentious subject in India, to the Hindus they are absolutely sacred, to the Muslims they are not. This creates not a small amount of violence which is worsening.

This link may help: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/04/27/india-cow-protection-spurs-vigilante-violence

The cows are of a much more rangy appearance than the animals we are used to seeing but they are healthy and not at all cruelly treated.

pfrancke Loc: cold Maine

thank you for that eye-opening link. I have dogs and cats for pets and it bothers me very much to think about such animals hanging on a hook for food. Chick-Fil-A commercials have cows carry signs saying how good chicken tastes. I imagine that India as a whole doesn't think much of the West's eating habits - though few are looking out for the poor chicken...

It certainly is clear that the world as a whole is not nearly as fine and civilized as we would like to imagine. As many ideas of what is right and wrong as there are cultures and each is right in their own eyes.

Graham Smith Loc: Cambridgeshire UK

In western countries, when you go into a restaurant and want vegetarian food, the veggie options are usually at the bottom of the menu and marked as veggie. In India the meat dishes are often marked as non vegetarian.

Graham Smith Loc: Cambridgeshire UK

In India you can buy your chicken prepared on on the hoof, as it were.

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pfrancke Loc: cold Maine

and in general I think about a lobster being thrown into the boiling waters... My feelings in general (not that they matter) are - as a (particularly primitive) hunter, fisherman, etc, I can earn my food. But the industrialized world where masses of things are worked has left a sense of sourness and loss about it all. Meat tastes good, but my mind rebels.

Graham Smith Loc: Cambridgeshire UK

The Indians, in general, are pretty kind to animals. Stray dogs are everywhere in the cities, towns and villages, seldom are stray dogs not in view. I had expected them to receive quite a lot of abuse from people, but the Indians are very tolerant of them. The worst I saw was dogs being shooed off. People often throw the scraps of food and in some places the dogs will gather at certain times knowing that they are going to be given food. I had expected, before I went to India, that the dogs would be aggressive and need to be given a wide berth. The opposite was true, they were non-aggressive, and kept themselves to themselves.
The was a case recently where students, as a "prank" threw a puppy from a roof... it caused outrage. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-36721344

pfrancke Loc: cold Maine

Medical students no less... I imagine that their cruelty and stupidity will cost them much socially if not legally. It is refreshing to hear that a society with little to share can still find compassion for those with less! Perhaps there is truth to the idea that those with the most are more cruel.