Call for GBC Cow Protection Reports

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Dear Raktambara Prabhu,

 

PAMHO. AGTSP.

 

If you feel it appropriate could you please place this Letter from the ISKCON

Ministry for Cow Protection and Agriculture in the x conference. Thank you very

much.

 

Your servant,

Balabhadra das

 

Dear Assembled Devotees,

 

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

 

We are writing to express our concern for the welfare of cows cared for in

ISKCON cow protection programs around the world. In 1999 ISKCON's GBC

enacted ISKCON Law 507 which provides a carefully formulated set of Minimum

Cow Protection Standards for all cows in ISKCON facilities. Crucial to the

effectiveness of these standards is Section XIV, which outlines local GBC

quarterly responsibility to visit every cow facility and traveling program,

meet with its cowherds and ox teamsters, and to submit a written report to

the Ministry of Cow Protection and Agriculture detailing the age and health

of the cows in the herd and how the standards of ISKCON Law 507 are being

maintained. (If the local GBC is not able to personally visit a farm, he or

she may appoint a monitor to carry out these duties, though the monitor

should not be one of the cowherds, since that defeats the intent of the law,

which is to provide a system of checks and balances, and to give the

cowherds direct communications with a GBC to communicate pressing needs of

the cows.) The Ministry of Cow Protection and Agriculture is then supposed

to maintain these reports on file.

 

The purpose of the cow protection reports is to promote accountability in

ISKCON cow programs. With cow reports on file, when the Ministry receives

reports of cow abuse, it has a means to ascertain whether such allegations

warrant further investigation or whether they stem from misunderstanding .

With at least some factual basis, the Ministry can act on allegations and

concerns rationally and effectively. Just as importantly, situations which

historically have led to cow abuse, such as overbreeding, poor fencing, and

lack of land, can be brought under control before they lead to disaster.

Solutions can be worked out for present problems, and long-range plans made

to fulfill Srila Prabhupada's vision of cow protection as a central element

of the ideal, healthy spiritual community.

 

Unfortunately, even though it was they who enacted ISKCON's Minimum Cow

Protection Standards into law, the GBC have been overwhelmingly negligent in

carrying out their important duty of meeting with cowherds and submitting

cow protection reports. In July 2000, the Ministry of Cow Protection and

Agriculture sent requests to all GBC and known monitors for cow protection

reports. Since then it has sent numerous additional private requests for

reports. The response has been negligible. At this point only

Pennsylvania's ISKCON Gita-nagari farm is current with all the required

quarterly Cow Protection Reports.

 

The ISKCON Ministry for Cow Protection and Agriculture feels it has an

obligation to see that ISKCON Law 507 is carried out. However,

unless GBC members fulfill their legal duties in this matter by meeting with

cowherds and sending us timely reports, we do not have sufficient

information to counteract reports of cow abuse that arise, and we cannot

completely be responsible for the cows that are part of programs which are

developing in ways which are contrary to ISKCON law. The Ministry of Cow

Protection and Agriculture is an unfunded ministry, run by householders who

are protecting a small herd of Krsna's cows on their farm and living on a

poverty-level income. Thus global trotting to personally visit all centers

is not a possibility at this time. Therefore we have spent a great deal of

time requesting cooperation with ISKCON law 507 through the facility of

e-mail.

 

To give an idea of why lack of regular reports from the GBC causes us deep

concern, consider the example of alleged discrepencies to ISKCON Law 507

which have been presented to our ministry regarding the following three

projects:

 

Vrndavana – The Ministry has received complaints of irresponsible

overbreeding focused on milk production, resulting in up to 25-30 new

animals per year, so that presently there are 217 animals on 7 acres of land

(200 cows need at least 200 acres in the Vrndavana climate). Although the

natural

cow-to-bull ratio is 50/50, the Ministry has received allegations from

several sources which claim that cows outnumber bulls as much as 128 to 62 ,

some allegations say that ISKCON Vrndavana's bulls have been sold to

slaughter. These allegations are difficult to refute when no quarterly

records of cows (including bulls) names and ages have been submitted. Other

allegations state funds allegedly raised to help out the goshalla are often

diverted to maintain the temple. If there is no Goshalla Trust established

as requested by Srila Prabhupada and as required by ISKCON Law 507, again,

such allegations are very, very difficult to refute. The Ministry has

received no cow protection reports whatsoever from the Vrndavana GBC, but has

received a partial report from a concerned devotee.

 

Mayapura – Only one report has been received from Mayapura goshalla. Again

there is a grave concern for the welfare of the bulls, since there is no

regular ox training program, and the cow/bull ratio is alarmingly

unbalanced: as much as 93 cows to 15 bulls as of last summer. Furthermore,

these 108 animals should have a minimum of 108 acres of land, but is alleged

to have less than 5 acres. The production of 25 calves in the past year and

no ox program not only indicates overbreeding but also a program is

dangerously oriented toward milk production, rendering bull calves useless

and unwanted. The fact that Mayapur's GBC has not submitted any cow

protection report to update the Ministry on conditions since the flood in

October causes further concern.

 

New Gokula, Australia – The Ministry has received allegations of flagrant

neglect of animal's health and even violent treatment of animals. The New

Gokula GBC has submitted no cow protection reports.

 

Without the cooperation of the GBC in supplying regular quarterly cow

reports, it is difficult to ascertain what the real situation is when we

receive allegations like those mentioned above. This poses a potential

public relations problem, since such celebrities as Paul McCartney and Jackie

Chan

have endorsed PETA's attacks on the extensive, and exceptionally cruel cow

slaughter practices which have developed in India in recent years. Without

regular reports from the GBC, we have no statistical means of defending the

practices on ISKCON farms if questioned on these matters.

 

The following is a list of the GBC with known farms. Please correct us if

we have some incorrect information. It is here indicated how many GBC or

GBC monitors or head cowherds have completed reports by each farm how many

reports have been sent in. Only Gita-nagari is current with their reports –

4 needed each year. The GBC report form and standards (you will need the

standards to fill out the forms) can be downloaded from the Resource section

of www.iscowp.com. Upon their completion, they can be sent to

iscowp (AT) earthlink (DOT) net Forms and standards can also be acquired from the

ISCOWP address by inquiry. We more than welcome interested persons who

would like to help fulfill these reports. Thank you for your consideration,

and may this letter find you well and in blissful Krsna consciousness.

 

Your servant,

 

Balabhadra das

ISKCON Minstry for Cow Protection and Agriculture

 

 

BB Govinda Swami:

Known Farms: Vrndavana, Mauritus, Kazakhstan (no reports)

 

Bhakti Caitanya Swami:

Known Farms: Pretoria (1 report)

 

Bhakti Swarup Damodar Swami:

Farms?

 

Bhaktitirtha Swami:

Known Farms: 2 in France (0 reports), New Vrndavana (1 report ), Gita Nagari

(current-4 reports), Ghana (0 reports)

 

Bhaktivaibhava Swami:

Known Farms: Czech Republic (1 report), Belarus (0 report), Italy (0 report)

 

Bir Krsna Goswami

Known Farms: New Talavan (no reports), Gokula (1 report), Murari Sevaka (1

report)

 

Giridhari Swami:

Farms?

 

Gopal Krsna Goswami:

Known Farms: Vrndavana (0 report), Mayapur (1 report), Uganda (no

report)Maharashtra (0 report)

 

Guru Prasad Swami:

Known Farms: Colombia, Brazil, Mexico (1 report each for Columbia, Costa Rica,

Mexico)

 

Hari Vilas Das: Co-GBC for USA:

Farms?

 

Jayapataka Swami:

Known Farms: Mayapur (1 report), Karnataka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Bolivia,

Ecuador, Peru, ( 0 reports)

 

Kavicandra Swami:

Known Farms: Indonesia, Ghana ( 0 reports)

 

Madhu Sevita Das:

Known Farms: Belgium (1 report), Italy, Spain ( 0 reports)

 

Malati-devi Dasi: Acting GBC

Known Farms: West Virginia (1 report )

 

Niranjana Swami:

Known Farms: Belarus ( 0 report)

 

Paramgati Swami:

Known Farms: 2 in Brazil, 2 in France, (0 reports)

 

Prabhavisnu Swami:

Known Farms: 3 in Australia (0 reports), New Zealand (1 report ), Tirupati,

Bangladesh, Malaysia (others 0 reports)

 

Prthu Das: Assistant GBC

Known Farms: Murari Sevaka (1 report), Nrsimha-ksetra (0 report)

 

Radhanatha Swami:

Known Farms: West Virginia (1 report), Karnataka, Daund, Maharastra (others 0

report)

 

Ramai Swami:

Known Farms: 3 in Australia (0 reports), New Zealand (2 reports), Indonesia (o

reports)

 

Ravindra Svarupa Das:

Known Farms: Gita Nagari (4 reports), Nrsimha-Ksetre, Sweden (others 0 reports)

 

Rohini Suta Das:

Known farm: Serbia (constant contact), Croatia (0 reports)

 

Sesa Das:

Known Farm: Alachua, Guyana ( 0 reports)

 

Sivarama Swami:

Known Farms: England (2 reports), Ireland (0 report), Hungary (1 report)

 

Suhotra Swami:

Known Farms: Poland (0 reports) Czech Republic (1 report), Begium (1 report)

 

Tamal Krishna Goswami:

Kown Farms: Mayapur (1 report)

 

Vaidyanatha Das: Full GBC

Known Farms: Belarus (0 report)

 

Virabahu Das:

Known Farms: Argentina 9, Puerto Rico, Guyana, Peru, Ecuador (0 reports)

 

 

 

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