Adoption of Animal Welfare Practices by Selected Gaushalas (Cow-Shelters) in the State of Karnataka, India

Gaushalas serve a crucial role in protecting our nation's livestock wealth. Its primary function is to provide shelter for cows, mainly for non-lactating, frail, unproductive, and stray cattle. Forty gaushalas were chosen at random from the eighty registered gaushalas in the state of Karnataka for this study. On the basis of herd size, the forty selected gaushalas were categorized as small (12), medium (18), and large (10) gaushalas. Animal welfare is currently a global issue that is receiving increasing attention. With this in mind, the present study was conducted to determine the degree to which gaushalas have adopted animal welfare measures. Sixty percent of large sized gaushalas belonged to high adopter categories, fifty-six percent of medium sized gaushalas belonged to medium adopter categories, and fifty percent of small sized gaushalas belonged to low adopter categories in terms of adoption of overall animal welfare practices. However, it was also observed that a lack of funds, inadequate financial assistance from governments, inadequate fodder availability, inadequate access to technical services, inadequate infrastructure facilities and poor management were perceived as impediments to the adoption of animal welfare practices in gaushalas.