Berhampur: Veterinary doctors Monday removed plastic materials such as polythene bags weighing around 40 kg from the stomach of a stray cow at a government-run veterinary hospital in Odisha’s Ganjam district.
Chief District Veterinary Officer (CDVO) of Ganjam, Anjan Kumar Das, said it took around three hours to conduct a surgery to take out the polythene bags and other undigested items from the stomach of the five-year-old cow.
The condition of the herbivore is stable following the operation, and it will stay in the hospital for about a week, he said.
Stray cows, which feed on leftovers dumped in polythene bags, end up with their stomach full of plastic. This led to the animals’ intestines getting blocked. If left unattended for long, they will die, said Satya Narayan Kar who led the team that conducted the surgery.
The cow was shifted from Hilpatna area to the hospital in an animal ambulance on Sunday, after its condition did not improve with on-the-spot treatment for two days, he said.
Having problems passing stool and urine, the animal had been kicking its belly in pain for some time, Kar said.
“The clinical examination of the cow revealed the accumulation of plastic waste in its stomach. In order to remove these, we have conducted a major surgery,” he said.
In 2023, the veterinary surgeons of the hospital had removed of plastic materials of around 30 kg from a stray cow.
The incident has revealed the use of polythene and other plastic materials in Silk City, despite the ban on their use, transport and manufacture, said Sudhir Rout, an environmental activist spearheading campaigns against the use of plastic.
He appealed to the Berhampur Municipal Corporation authorities to strictly enforce the rules against the use of polythene.
