More than 60 Jersey cows from Switzerland arrive in Chennai

CHENNAI: As protests raged in the city demanding the lifting of the ban on jallikattu, which is said to be useful for native breeds, more than 60 Jersey cows were flown in from from Switzerland to Chennai on Tuesday.
Airport sources said the consignment was imported for the animal husbandry department of the Tamil Nadu government. The cows were brought by a Qatar Airways A330 flight via Kolkata at 6.45pm.
“The animals were housed in 10 wooden boxes and were moved to a quarantine facility. They were cleared for release at 9pm. Some of the large boxes contained more than three cows each,” an airport official said. Theywere imported under licence from National Diary Development Board and are expected to remain in Chennai for two months.
A senior official of Airports Authority of India (AAI) said the Jersey cows were part of 1,000 cows and bulls, which are scheduled for import to the country. “Around 540 are for Chennai, while the rest are for Kolkata. The flight arrived at Chennai after unloading around 500 animals in Kolkata,” he said.
Foreign breeds are usually imported once in two years for breeding and for dairy purposes. The animals were brought via Qatar Airways cargo flight because the airline has agood facility in Doha to handle live cargo.