Polythene bags in full, aluminium foil, Maggi and ParleG wrappers were amongst the many plastic items - 52 kilograms’ worth - removed from a cow’s stomach by surgeons in Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS) on Friday, 18 October.
The waste, which was removed in over five hours of surgery, included needles, coin, a screw and pins, news reports said.
Speaking to The News Minute, Dr S Balasubramanian, Director (Clinics) at TANUVAS, said that the plastic accumulation must have taken place over a period of two years.
“In a week, it should regain its strength to stand on its feet. But it will take at least a month’s time for it to be able to produce milk,” adds Dr Balasubramanian.
Elaborating on the surgery, the veterinary doctor said:
“We administered area-specific anaesthesia instead of general anaesthesia. The cow would not have felt anything in the region around its stomach. The surgery was started at 11:00 am on Friday and concluded by 4:30 pm that day. During its entire course, the animal was on its feet. This is the only way to do it.”
The cow is reportedly recovering in the veterinary hospital shed in Chennai’s Vepery.
The owner of the cow, P Munirathnam, who is also reportedly an employee of the Ambattur Housing Society, said that he purchased her six months ago, and she just gave birth to her third calf a month earlier. When the cow “could barely feed its own calf,” Munirathnam took her to the veterinary hospital.
“The cow had just given birth but we knew something was wrong with its stomach. We proceed to take blood tests and x-ray scans and these tests revealed that a surgery was required,” said one of the five doctors who performed the surgery.
(With inputs from The News Minute and India Today)
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