Nearly 80% of India’s 1.3 billion people practice Hinduism, which views cows as sacred. As such, cows are protected by certain laws, such as laws prohibiting farmers from selling unproductive cows for slaughter. Cow vigilantes have even taken protection into their own hands, roaming the streets and using violent measures to stop vehicles transporting cattle for slaughter.

Despite their revered status, however, cows are suffering at a staggering level. Farmers struggling to afford feed for non-productive cattle turn them loose, and today, more than 5.2 million stray cows are roaming the city.

That creates havoc as they cause car crashes and feed on farmers’ crops, and also put the starving cattle in peril as they feed on plastic bags and trash out of desperation.

Although the government has spent millions of dollars creating shelters, the demand is so great that its 1,800 cow shelters are overflowing and struggling to provide adequate food. Different state governments are trying different approaches, from putting barcodes on stray cows to imposing special “cow taxes” on goods like gas and liquor to help raise money for their care.

In Madhya Pradesh, a “cow cabinet” was created to protect cattle, and there’s even a minister in charge of cow affairs. Yet the problem of starving and abandoned cattle continues to grow.

Fighting apathy

Dainik Jagran wanted to do something about the problem, examining the dual standards of revering cows as sacred yet abandoning them and letting them starve on city streets. Despite all the talk about cow protection, little was being done to help them.

With the “Gau Gras” (“Food for the Cows”) campaign, Dainik Jagran set out to change the way citizens viewed cows and make them more sensitive to the plight of stray cattle. The campaign encouraged people to treat cows as members of the family and to make bread for them to eat every day; it also encouraged them to feed stray cows, donate food to cow shelters, and set aside money for their care.

To help build compassion and awareness, Dainik Jagran ran a series of stories about people who work in shelters and their efforts to save cows. In all, the newspaper published more than 100 stories to get people talking about this overlooked topic and also did 200 radio spots and 150 outdoor billboards about the campaign. Twenty newspaper ads further supported the message and built awareness.

The campaign looked at the problem from multiple perspectives:

• At the humanitarian level, it sought to save cows from dying of starvation or feeding on garbage.
• From an economic angle, it looked at how the livelihoods of farmers and the rural economy were affected.
• From a policy angle, it urged government leaders and policymakers to become more sensitive toward animals.

Changing for the future

The campaign achieved its objectives and saw 685 associations and organisations participate. Additionally, 1.5 million students from over 10,000 schools participated, and each student took the message home to their families — further multiplying the message’s reach. Millions of people took the oath to be more sensitive toward the cows’ needs and to help feed them.

As people saw the need to take collective responsibility and start caring for these starving cows, they changed not just how they viewed cows but also improved the lives of these revered but neglected cows.

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