A bull turned violent and attacked its owner, leaving the man grievously injured, at Nettoor on Tuesday around 1 p.m.
Vinod Kumar, 45, the owner of the bull, sustained fractures and several wounds. He was rushed to a private hospital at Vyttila, where he remains admitted. The hospital authorities declined to share details about his condition.
According to those in the neighbourhood, Kumar had untied the bull, reportedly to feed it water when it turned violent and gored him with his back to a wall. People in the neighbourhood were alerted by his wails. They rushed to the spot and managed to tether the bull to a post by the roadside.
A unit from the Thripunithura fire station and a vet from the Panangad veterinary dispensary also reached the spot. “The bull had to be tranquilised to be shifted from where it was tethered. Since it wasn’t available at the dispensary, we waited till our people collected it from the district veterinary hospital in Ernakulam. However, there was no need to use it since a deal was struck at the spot to slaughter it, and the parties took it away. Tranquilising the animal would have rendered it unfit for slaughter for at least a couple of months,” said a Fire and Rescue Services official.
According to neighbours, the animal had been in a disturbed state since the previous day. It was once sold, but was bought back due to the owner’s attachment to it. It had damaged at least a couple of vehicles in the past, a person in the neighbourhood said.
“Usually bulls are not reared till they grow to a size that makes controlling it tough. In this case, the owner had kept it owing to his attachment to it. An animal could turn violent due to various reasons,” said Vinay Vijayakumar, a veterinarian.
Published - December 26, 2023 08:48 pm IST
