Minister Discloses CM’s Directive to Set Up Animal Shelters Across AP

Vijayawada: Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has decided to set up animal shelters across Andhra Pradesh to prevent accidents involving stray cattle on the roads, Excise Minister Kollu Ravindra announced on Wednesday. The minister said land allocation and release of funds will come soon. He spoke to media persons while visiting the cattle shelter established at Machilipatnam Agricultural Market Yard in August this year. Stray cattle, which are found to cause traffic disruptions within the municipal borders, are transported to animal shelters established in the market place. Ravindra said that 326 cattle have been housed in the shelter so far. Of these, 269 were returned to their owners after paying the established fee. The Minister announced that 16 cattle died due to severe disease. Their autopsies showed the presence of rotting plastic wraps and undigested food in their stomachs. Ravindra said a special monitoring committee has been constituted to monitor the functioning of the cattle shelter. He argued that moving cattle wandering on the roads to animal shelters would be a continuous process. Machilipatnam municipal commissioner T. Bapiraju, officials and local leaders accompanied the minister during his visit to Machilipatnam Market Yard cattle shed.