What is Charitable Cow Donation?

Cow donation or cow gift is a widespread practice in the Hindu tradition and often performed on various occasions. But this is mostly restricted to gifting the cow to the priests, temples, etc., especially for attaining set fulfillment in a religious way. The modern society has added a new dimension to cow donation and that is the charitable cow donation. This is generally performed out of the religious context and is a more social-welfare process than a religious ritual.

Why Charitable Cow Donation?

The cow is a sacred and multipurpose farming animal. Household cow farming is an age-old practice in India and almost all rural population is aware of the basic aspects of cow domestication. Household and marginal dairy farming is a popular trade among low-income families in the rural and urban sectors. People use this as an additional income source. But the increased price and maintenance cost of the cows, the dwindling source of fodder, and scarcity of open grazing spaces make cow farming challenging during recent times. The major investment for this side-track trade is buying a milking cow. Therefore, charitable cow donation to a poor family would be a great help for the below income families, to create a sustainable source of additional income. The charitable cow donation meets multiple social causes, the conservation of cows, healthy food for the receiving family and a source of sustainable income for the poor.

How to do Charitable Cow Donation?

Charitable cow donation is catching up in the Indian scenario, as well-off families turn more passionate for charity initiatives and generous in donating. Gifting a cow to a family in need would work wonders! The process is made easy through several organizations focused on cow farming, protection, and conservation. Buying a cow from such organizations and donating that cow to a chosen family through such organizations has made the process practically easy and friendly to the parties. Heifer International is a well-known organization offering charitable cow donation platform.

Concerns on Charitable Cow Donation

Gifting a cow may add one more source of expense to the poor family and the cow may not get enough food or care as it used to be in the gaushala or caring centers is one of the foremost concern. Abandonment of the cow in due course of time and even sent to a slaughterhouse, in rare cases are other major concerns raised by a rationally thinking section of the society regarding the charitable cow donation, which of course cannot be undermined. Therefore, choosing the right recipient is critical in charitable cow donation and the donors should evolve and implement a process to monitor the donated cows by the recipients. Providing necessary basic training in cow farming to the recipient is another pro-active strategy for ensuring the health, happiness, and well-being of the donated cows. This will help in propagating the culture of cow-care across the society in the long run and needs further focus. Charitable cow donation has not yet gained grounds in India and hence this needs to be popularized.