A butcher family that is saviour of cows

A butcher’s family that does not slaughter cows, eat beef or even sell its milk, hard to believe is it not?

Apart from all those qualities, this Muslim family from Dahiwandi village in Shirur Kasar taluka of Beed district in Maharashtra has now turned to be the protector of cattle. They have taken 165 cows under their direct care for the last several years.

As news spread about this butcher family’s compassion for cows, locals sent their aging cattle to their care.
Shabbir, his wife Ashrabi, sons Ramzan and Yusuf and daughters-in-law Rizwan and Anzum do not eat beef.

The bulls are sold to local farmers at throw away prices on a written undertaking that they will not be sold to butchers and will be returned once they are old.

Shabbir and his family are dedicated to their cattle, a decades-old tradition initiated by his father Budan Sayyad in the 70s.

This family is now struggling to save the cows from the severe drought that is prevailing in most parts of Maharashtra and its intensity is extreme in and around Beed.

The family is finding it difficult to get fodder and food for their herd. Also a hailstorm had claimed the lives of a few calves and two cows. Earlier, 12 cows died when the region was under a spell of acute drought five years ago.

“Every time a cow or calf dies due to reasons beyond our control, the loss is unbearable. It is almost likes losing someone in the family,” said Shabbir Sayyad (55),

“My father wanted to overcome the social stigma of being a Khatik, the term used in villages for butchers. He started with two cows that he had saved from being sent to the slaughter house’, he said.

Shabbir taking his father an example purchased 10 cows from a butcher in 1972 and took care of them.

He takes his cattle to the nearby hills for grazing, but there is not enough grass for the entire herd. The cows also need 1500 liters of water daily just for drinking, which is hard to find given the present drought.

Even as humans are finding difficult to get drinking water here, Shabbir says it is becoming impossible each day to feed and water these animals.

The cows get malnourished and the calves get affected immediately, said Shabbir.

Our family earnings are about Rs 70-80000 annually, which is got through selling cow dung. We have to face a hardship, but that does not mean we will give up our cows, said Shabbir without any signs of remorse.