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Delhi orders steak with chips to cut cow fraud


Delhi is planting microchips in cattle to prevent the illegal milking of a cash-for-cows initiative that had been introduced by the city to tackle problems with strays, ranging from bovine belligerence to black market dairy dealers, according to reports.

Up to 40,000 cows are thought to be roaming the streets of India's capital and can present a traffic menace. The BBC notes that unauthorised dairies have contributed to the rise in strays, and one woman had her arm broken recently when a cow under chase slammed into her.

A court recently chastised authorities for failing to round-up the wandering beasts and ordered that anyone bringing a stray to city authorities should win a bounty of 2,000 rupees (about £25). The authorities then sell the cows. But there is a potential loophole: someone could return the same sacred cow for another 2,000 rupees.

So the Delhi civic authorities are fitting every cow's belly with an  RFID tag, costing 500 rupees (about £6.40), to help record ownership and foil unscrupulous cow catchers. Chip readers will identify an owner's name, the animal's code number and details of its sale.

According to Calcutta's Telegraph, "the chips will be lodged, ticking, inside the cattle’s rumens – their 'first stomachs' where they store food after swallowing". It explains that the food is then "regurgitated and chewed later at leisure".

The chip will be housed in a non-toxic capsule heavy enough to settle in the rumen, to prevent it slipping into the 'fourth stomach', where most of the digestion takes place.

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