MAPUSA
Goa has no Statewide count of its stray, abandoned or ownerless cattle, even as municipal bodies across the State have been impounding hundreds of animals found roaming on roads and public places.
The government data on cattle welfare exposes a fragmented system in which several municipalities have either never conducted a survey of stray cattle or do not maintain records of their numbers. Instead, they have entered into agreements with private organisations and gaushalas to catch and shelter cattle found on public roads.
The Corporation of the City of Panaji, Margao Municipal Council, Mapusa Municipal Council, Ponda, Cuncolim, Sanguem and several other local bodies either reported that no survey had been conducted or that such records were not maintained.
The absence of a baseline becomes particularly striking against the number of animals being impounded.
Curchorem-Cacora Municipal Council, for instance, said 255 stray cattle had been impounded from its jurisdiction from 2023 onwards, despite the council admitting that it has never conducted a survey of stray, abandoned or ownerless cattle.
Canacona reported 120 cattle impounded since January 2022, all of which were rehabilitated, with none released to owners and no penalties collected.
Quepem reported another 128 stray cattle impounded through Dhyan Foundation since 2022-23. The same organisation said it had rescued a much larger 3,280 cattle, including animals injured in road accidents, from various locations in South Goa during the period.
Bicholim's records show repeated impounding, while the Gomantak Gausevak Mahasangh's own figures show that the number of cattle in its custody stood at 219 as of July 2026. Its records also show virtually no penalty recovery from owners.
The enforcement model is strikingly dependent on a handful of organisations. Several municipalities have MoUs with Gomantak Gausevak Mahasangh at Sikeri-Mayem, while Quepem and Sanguem have tied up with Dhyan Foundation. Ponda has its own cow shelter at Nirankal, with a sanctioned capacity of 200 cattle.
The records also raise questions about shelter capacity.
The Ponda shelter's sanctioned capacity is 200, while another government entry records its current occupancy at 115.
Kamdhenu Goraksha Sanstha at Mane, Cotigao, meanwhile has a sanctioned capacity of only 65 but an occupancy of 120 – almost twice its sanctioned capacity.
The more fundamental gap, however, is accountability. Across the records, penalties collected from cattle owners are repeatedly shown as nil, while in several cases the responsibility for rehabilitation, release of animals and pending cases has effectively been left with the NGO or gaushala handling the cattle.
The government therefore appears to have an enforcement mechanism for cattle found on roads, but not a comprehensive system to establish how many abandoned cattle Goa actually has, who owns them, how many are repeatedly impounded, and whether owners are being made to pay for abandoning them.
The result is a system that can count cattle after they are caught, but cannot say with confidence how many are roaming Goa's roads in the first place.
