Bull in a china shop is not just another cliche in the City. Stray cattle on the City roads not only trigger major traffic snarls, but also are a major cause of road mishaps. Not less than a 100 cases are booked against owners of stray cattle every year.

Cows and bulls roaming the streets unguarded, could be in search of anything that goes for fodder or their owner’s easiest way of getting rid of them. The fine amount collected when a cattle case is registered is Rs 500.
The stray cattle poses a threat to those on the road. They are potential traffic accident causes besides showcasing the metropolis in a poor light. They are also symptomatic of a heartless and cruel owners who have abdicated their responsibility towards them. These poor animals are often left to fend for themselves.

Stray cattle is a common sight in Malleswaram, Adugodi, Koramangala, Jayanagar IV block, Hennur Cross, Banaswadi main road, Sevanagar, Kamaraj Road, Mattikere, HSR layout, Byatarayanapura and Agara Panchayat. Special squads have been formed by the BBMP to control the menace and the stray cattle caught on the streets are taken to the Bruhut Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) cattle pound near Town Hall, Deputy Director (Animal Husbandry) Prakash Reddy told Metrolife.

He concedes that the regular drives carried out once a week is just not enough to curb the cattle menace.
"We are short staffed and are yet to formulate plans to get cattle off the streets. These drives seem inadequate to solve the growing problem," he admits.

According to the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act, stray cattle can be caught and disposed off after a certain period of time if no claimant comes. But this cattle isn’t slaughtered but auctioned for anything between Rs 200 to Rs 10,000.

Prakash Reddy says cows are given away to its claimants only on production of adequate proof such as giving details of the animal and its identification marks if any and claimants' residential proof like a ration card.   
BBMP Commissioner Dr S Subramanya says the stray cattle menace is not as rampant in the old areas of the City as in the newer localities. “The old zones in the City are monitored by the BBMP but the newer ones are yet to come under the purview of the BBMP.”

He says stray bulls outnumber the cows. Also, he says that he's aware that these cattle eat whatever comes their way including garbage and plastic bags affecting their health and causing them extreme trauma. “But who is to blame and who is responsible?" he asks.

An animal activist in the City thinks that while stray cattle must be left to roam free, it must not be done at the cost of causing accidents and traffic blocks. “Stray cattle on the roads give a wrong signal. Cattle and other animals which are let loose on the roads by their owners are also responsible for filth, squalor and outbreak of diseases. The authorities must formulate a law to deter cattle owners from letting their animals astray," this animal activist says. Others like Dipti Govind, a software professional with Wipro thinks these animals double up as good speed breakers. 

The traffic police simply throw their hands up rather helplessly. "When we find stray cattle on  the street, we take them and leave them in a shelter. We try and round up stray cattle once every three months. Only the cattle that's not useful are left astray. We can't sell them, neither slaughter them and nor even keep them," says a top police officer, who says he has come across several instances where stray cattle have sparked off traffic pile-ups.