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Dear Layall Prabhu,

 

PAMHO. AGTSP.

 

> Dear Devotees

> I have asked the GBCs and TPs for New Gokula, Mayapur and

> Vrindavana for their comments as well.

>

 

Good. We have written to them also. They either deny these things are

happening or ignore the inquiries. Where are the official cow reports with

the facts and figures that could possibly refute the allegations? Not

forthcoming. That is all they have to do-fulfill the reports and

communicate. The bottom line. Otherwise it becomes a "he say, she say"

situation.

 

Ramai Swami who is one of the GBC in charge of New Gokula has said that he

has repeatedly asked that a report be sent from all the Australia farms and

that he is being ignored if we have not received reports.

 

> The article will be going up by the end of the week.

 

Thank you for sending what you have as there are a few clarifications.

 

ISKCOWP is the inncorrect spellng. ISCOWP is correct.

>

>

>

> Vrndavana, India: Claims of over-breeding focused on milk

> production. This leads to too many cows squeezed on to too little

> land. Allegations that cows outnumber bulls by more than

> two-to-one, has lead to suspicions that some of Vrindavana's

> bulls are being sold for slaughter.

 

We have reports that this went on during the previous goshalla management ,

not the present. which is about 3 years old.

 

(Bulls are often seen as

> useless when there is an emphasis on milk-production and

> insufficient use of bulls as workers.) The Ministry has received

> no cow protection reports from the responsible GBCs.

 

Concerning the Vrndavana situation-we have reports that the temple

brahmacaries collect in the name of the cows and the funds go to the temple.

Gopal Krsna Maharaja tells the goshalla devotees, that it is their headache

not his. Nothing has been done about this when it has been reported to the

temple authorities. This makes it very difficult for the goshalla to support

itself. Hence we receive one argument for the breeding to produce milk that

they can sell for an income. This collection for the cows and funds diverted

to the temple is fraud. The current child abuse case is legally based on

ISKCON's fraudalent activities.

 

A few years back the allegation was that the temple wanted to use the

goshalla property for housing, etc. It is the temple property, it should be

in a Goshalla trust to remain perpetually for the cows. Due to

international protest nothing happened, but the recent fear is that they may

try again.

 

The reporters of the allegations do not want their names mentioned due to

feared of reprisals from the management in regards to their visas etc.

 

In other words, in your report, it should be understood that the Vrndavana

Goshalla is not soley at fault, a big part of their difficulties is in

dealing with the temple management and the GBC.

 

>

> Mayapur, India: Similar concerns of overcrowding (it is claimed

> that the animals are squeezed into one-twentieth the land needed)

> and fears of slaughter

 

I think this should be somewhat clarified. The milking cows far out number

the oxen and retired cows in the goshalla. The program has been to breed for

milk and give away the oxen and non productive cows to initiated devotees.

We understand that there is a contract that is used. We have not seen it and

we have asked for copies of the contracts to keep on file. None forthcoming.

We have asked about checks and balances as to the welfare of the cows after

they have been given away. Nothing forthcoming. We have asked how can such a

program be justified on a long ternm basis. Is there a plan to change this,

otherwise you are giving away untold numbers of cows and oxen and you can't

possibly be responsible for all of their definite safety. Where is the ox

and ox teamster training program so that the oxen are not given away. What

about purchase of more land for the cows at Mayapur? Nothing forthcoming.

 

Under ISKCON Law 507 it is acceptable to give away with contract a cow or

ox. But this is not considered an ongoing practice. Plans to purchase more

land, utilize the oxen are needed to be put place. Overbreeding is not

acceptable and against Law 507.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Your servant,

Chayadevi dasi

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>

> I decided to not to run the article just yet as it seemed a bit

> unbablanced. Maybe I'm asking the wrong crowd, but if anyone has

> anything to say as to why reports are not being made or if there

> is any defense against claims of mistreatment I would be happy to

> hear from you.

>

 

Most GBCs are sannyasis or gurus and are untrained in proper management

techniques. They have a culture of crisis management.

 

>

> I have asked the GBCs and TPs for New Gokula, Mayapur and

> Vrindavana for their comments as well.

 

They may not want the numbers made public because if alledged

discrepencies in female/male ratio are actual, then it would be clear

evidence of at minimum past abuse (i.e. improper management of oxen)

and at worse point up a pattern continuing to this

 

 

>

> GBC failing to ensure cow protection resolutions fulfilled

 

This sentence may make sense on some level but at first glance is

incomprehensible.

 

Some alternatives.

 

GBC failing to ensure Cow Protection Resolution fulfilled

 

Many GBCs failing to comply with Cow Protection Resolution

 

GBC Cow Protection Resolution widely ignored.

 

>

> By Lyall Ward

> 22 January 2001

>

> Cow abuse. To most in the west it might sound like a joke and

 

West

 

 

>

> even within ISKCON many might be tempted to ignore the problem in

> the face of issues such as child-abuse and the treatment of

> women. However Srila Prabhupada often pointed to a direct link

> between cow slaughter and the problems facing modern society. In

> theory, ISKCON's governing body, the GBC, treats this issue

> seriously, having put in place a set of minimum cow protection

> standards in 1999.

 

Minimum Cow Protection Standards

 

Thanks for your interest in the topic

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>

>

> I assume you are referring to the reports made by NIscala mataji on this

> conference. As I mentioned in my text to you last August:

>

> "I did a lengthy interview with Ananta prabhu regarding the complaints of

> Niscala concerning New Gokula. I will type it up when I get a chance. My

> conclusion was that NIscala's observations were incomplete and that given

> the full picture, Ananta appears to have done a relatively good job with an

> unfortunate situation."

>

 

How did you interview him? Did you make a physical visit to the project? The

underlying principle is a monitoring visit on a quarterly basis, minimum one

physical visit a year by the GBC personally.

 

There are reasons for this. One reason for physical visit is otherwise the

project managers may, whether delibretely or negligently, or naively

misrepresent the actual situation. Plus it really takes a sequence of visits

to

get an accurate idea of what really is happening. Like in New Vrindaban,

Kirtanananda systematically overbred for years, then pulled the plug on

subsidizing the barn when it didn't turn into a profit making deal. The result

was hellish. Not to get too in depth of how it cycled from marginal to really

bad to a gradual betterment, but a single visit with out a systematic

bebriefing at any single stage over the years would not have given an accurate

picture.

 

When they stopped breeding, there were 150 cows who were confined year round

in

a barn. I got a donation from a concerned wealthy devotee and spent two years

repairing fence and building new fence and eventually got it to a point where

almost the entire herd was able to get out during the grazing season. IT

wasn't

good at that point but it was getting better.

 

To simplify, what a sequence of visits determines is, are things getting

better or worse. A single visit can't possibly determine that.

 

The reason for asking what future plans are, is that sometimes even though

things are apparently getting worse, plans are in place to better, or vice

versa, even though things seem good, plans, and especially overbreeding,

could be creating a situation where a worsening of conditions is inevitable.

 

Someone can easily come to a project and make an assessment that conditions are

terrible, when actually although they may not be optimal, it is the best

possible under the circumstances and on a trend of getting better. This indeed

may be the case in New Gokula.

 

We had a case in NV where an energetic bhakta came into the scene, saw things

were suboptimal, went on a big campaign of bad mouthing the guys at the barn

amongst the temple devotees who didn't bother to check out things in depth,

who

then used politics to put the bhakta in a position to manage resources. One

of

his big complaints was that rubber bedding mats were used in the barn in the

stalls instead of organic material. From the perspective of contemporary

dairying, rubber bedding is acceptable, but not good enough for the bhakta.

Once he had elbowed aside the gentle barn manager, he begin bedding the stalls

with hay. This increased the labor requirements, but at least he had the

courage of his convictions and did the work. So I am not disparaging the

intent

or the applied energy of the attempt of the bhakta. He did work hard and had

nice sentiment.

 

The problem was that normally in the winter feeding quarters, hay is fed free

choice, which means there is always hay in front of the cows and they eat as

much as they want. Since the barn was under or minimally funded ( no money

for cows, but tens of thousands available for devotees to fly to Mayapur

festival - don't get me going), when he started bedding with hay, what

happens

after a few months (6 month feeding season in NV) is that the barn runs out of

hay before it runs out of winter. With no money to buy more, the situation

now

becomes untenable. When it finally dawned on the bhakta what the barn manager

had been telling him all along was true, they were running out of hay, he

freaked out and just left.

 

With insufficient funds to buy more, hay had to be rationed. Without

rationing, the death loss would have been very high, as all the hay would have

been consumed and then a period of nothing for everybody. With rationing,

if lots of labor is available, each cow can get enough, but somehow the

temple devotees who pushed the bhakta were too busy being advanced to pitch

in, so feeding by tractor on feedlot basis was only option. In this case,

the stronger cows bull to the feeders and take what they want, leaving

insufficient for those cows lower in the social order. This resulted in a

higher death rate than normal that winter.

 

Now if at that point, of rationing, an observer shows up and assesses the

situation, would he be correct to blast the barn manager? Would he pay

attention to the fact that breeding had gone from over 50 a year to 5 or less

several years before? Would he be justified to make a public ruckus about how

negligent the barn manager was, causing a drop off in donations to the barn,

which having bit the bullet on stopping breeeding years before had no income

from milk and was completely dependent on donations to provide even minimal

care

and any drop off in donations would equal more unneccessary death? In my

opinion between the bhakta and the observer, a lot of unneccessary death.

 

And for the barn manger, he gets dumped on every step of theway.

 

So I am sypathetic to the concept that some sentimental person could be at a

project and not have an accurate larger picture. On the other hand, we can't

just discount complaints, where current situation may be marginally

acceptable

but it is easy to project from current breeding rates that in the long run

conditions will worsen.

 

And what really makes Ananta's version a little suspect is her allegation that

he attacked her physically and slashed her tires. Did he really do that?

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Dear Pancaratna Prabhu,

 

PAMHO. AGTSP.

 

Thank you for letter. You volunteered as a sympathetic devotee who already

has plenty to do. You might say it was not your offical responsibility. But

there are others where it is their offical responsibilty.

 

We greatly appreciate your participation. The point is we need facts and

figures. Like,the numbers of cows and oxen now and in the previous years,

etc. It is all in the form. We must have an offical cow report.

 

Thank you for your concern and your feeling of responsibility where you are

not held to be responsible. This is admirable. If those who were actually

responsible could feel the same way.

 

Your servant,

Balabhadra das

-

"Pancaratna ACBSP" <Pancaratna.ACBSP (AT) pamho (DOT) net>

"Cow (Protection and related issues)" <Cow (AT) pamho (DOT) net>; "Atmarama (das)

ACBSP (Sydney - AU)" <Atmarama.ACBSP (AT) pamho (DOT) net>

Wednesday, January 24, 2001 11:10 PM

Article

 

 

> Dear Balabhadra and Chaya prabhus,

>

> Dandavad. Prabhupada kijaya!

>

> REgarding New Gokula, I want to express my deep regret that I have not yet

> posted my report on my interview with the devotee in charge of the cow and

> agriculture program there, Ananta prabhu, as well as my personal visit to

> the farm last September.

>

> In the posting on this conference and to all COM users you said:

>

> "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."

>

> I assume you are referring to the reports made by NIscala mataji on this

> conference. As I mentioned in my text to you last August:

>

> "I did a lengthy interview with Ananta prabhu regarding the complaints of

> Niscala concerning New Gokula. I will type it up when I get a chance. My

> conclusion was that NIscala's observations were incomplete and that given

> the full picture, Ananta appears to have done a relatively good job with a

n

> unfortunate situation."

>

> As soon as I return to Mayapur I will not procrastinate anymore in

writing

> up this interview. But to summarize, I want to go on record as saying that

I

> found no evidence of " flagrant neglect of animal's health and even

violent

> treatment of animals". Ananta prabhu gave a very detailed description of

the

> entire espisode and I could see how Niscala may have come to a different

> conclusion based on seeing only parts of the picture. But, when I received

> the whole story it appeared to me that Ananta prabhu did a good job.

>

> During my visit to the farm I spoke with Ananta's wife who looks after all

> the milking cows and I was impressed by her dedication and personal

> relationship with the cows.

>

> I agree that the GBC has failed in getting the cow reports done and there

is

> really no legitimate excuse for this.

>

> But here again, I must express my own regret that I have not done more.

> While I visited the farm, I spoke to Kaliya Krishna prabhu who resides

there

> and who agreed to work on getting the reports done. I was supposed to send

> him the format. But when Atmarama prabhu (the TP of Sydney and the farm)

> asked me to email it to him and he would give it to Kaliya Krishna, I put

> this off because of slow Mayapur connections and it never got done.

>

> I just wanted to say this because I believe that the New Gokula program is

> running relatively well. I am sorry that such serious doubts have now been

> raised around the world. Perhaps, if I had been more conscientious in

typing

> up my report at least this chapter could have been closed.

>

> Your servant,

> Pancaratna das

>

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Dear Pancaratna Prabhu,

 

PAMHO. AGTSP.

-

 

>

> I assume you are referring to the reports made by NIscala mataji on this

> conference. As I mentioned in my text to you last August:

 

Actually, what was very disturbing was receiving allegations about Australia

from a non-devotee who submitted some information on our ISCOWP WEB page

comment option last year. We answered it as best as we could but had to

admit we had not received any quarterly cow reports as required so we can

not fully address their concerns. We forwarded it to Ramai Swami and

Prabhavisnu Swami.

>

> As soon as I return to Mayapur I will not procrastinate anymore in

writing

> up this interview.

 

 

Yes that would be nice and could you fill out the cow report form? The form

is designed to provide facts that can refute allegations.

 

> I agree that the GBC has failed in getting the cow reports done and there

is

> really no legitimate excuse for this.

 

Actually would you consider being a Monitor for at least New Gokula? How

often are you there?

>

I spoke to Kaliya Krishna prabhu who resides there

> and who agreed to work on getting the reports done. I was supposed to send

> him the format.

 

Both the standards and the cow report form can be downloaded from the web

page www.iscowp.com or directly from us.

 

Your servant,

Balabhadra das

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Madhava Gosh writes:

Plus it really takes a sequence of visits

> to

> get an accurate idea of what really is happening

 

>

> The reason for asking what future plans are, is that sometimes even

though

> things are apparently getting worse, plans are in place to better, or

vice

> versa, even though things seem good, plans, and especially

overbreeding,

> could be creating a situation where a worsening of conditions is

inevitable.

>

> Someone can easily come to a project and make an assessment that

conditions are

> terrible, when actually although they may not be optimal, it is the best

> possible under the circumstances and on a trend of getting better. This

indeed

> may be the case in New Gokula.

>

> So I am sypathetic to the concept that some sentimental person could be at

a

> project and not have an accurate larger picture. On the other hand, we

can't

> just discount complaints, where current situation may be marginally

> acceptable

> but it is easy to project from current breeding rates that in the long run

> conditions will worsen.

 

Thanks for this input. It brings some very good points to light.

>

> And what really makes Ananta's version a little suspect is her allegation

that

> he attacked her physically and slashed her tires. Did he really do that?

 

Actually it was Niscala dasi who was physically attacked by Ananta and her

tires slashed by him. He admitted it upon the investigation.

 

Your servant,

Chayadevi

>

>

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Dandavad. Prabhupada kijaya!

 

 

> > As soon as I return to Mayapur I will not procrastinate anymore in

> writing

> > up this interview.

>

>

> Yes that would be nice and could you fill out the cow report form? The

> form is designed to provide facts that can refute allegations.

 

I attach my report at the end of this. However, I am back in Mayapur now so

I cannot help with filling out the cow report form.

 

> > I agree that the GBC has failed in getting the cow reports done and

> > there

> is

> > really no legitimate excuse for this.

>

> Actually would you consider being a Monitor for at least New Gokula? How

> often are you there?

 

if I spent more time in Australia I would love to do this but it doesn't

look like that will be happening sufficiently to take this responsibility.

 

However, Kaliya Krishna prabhu, who lives there, is willing to do this. His

problem is that he has no email at present so if you could write to him by

post I think you'll get a good response.

 

Your servant,

Pancaratna das

 

Report on my discussion with Ananta prabhu

 

The following is a report on my discussion with Ananta prabhu who is

responsible for the cow protection and agriculture program at New Gokula

farm which is under the administration of ISKCON Sydney, Australia. This

discussion took place in August, 2000 at the ISKCON Sydney Temple. However,

it is only now that I have gotten around to typing up my notes so I hope

that I get everything more or less correct.

 

First of all some general information. Ananta prabhu and his wife have been

looking after cow protection, agriculture and service for Tulasi devi for

ISKCON Sydney since 1997. At present new Gokula has a cow population of 79

of which most are retired. The farm has 150 acres of grazing pasture and

they are self-sufficient in food for the cow's. They're not breeding.

However, when they receive a donation they purchase a milking cow.

 

After supplying milk for the deities they have about 100 liters surplus per

week which they make into yoghurt, ghee and sour cream which is sold to the

congregation at ISKCON Sydney.

 

The incident reported by Niscala mataji concerns a specific cow named

Gokularani. Ananta prabhu explained the incident in this way:

 

Gokularani was a particularly aggressive and wild cow. In 1997, although

she was already 12 years old she managed to break through three fences to

get to a bull that was kept segregated in another paddock. Because of her

age and also having a narrow hip she had a lot of problems in delivery.

Thus, during delivery one hip became dislocated. There was a veterinarian

present for this delivery.

 

This hip continued to be a problem and didn't get better. She was milked

for about two years. She was kept segregated when she was in heat. A

couple of times she was let back into the rest of the herd but she got hurt

further because of her aggressive behavior

 

Then she got hurt again and got two dislocated hips and the veterinarian

wanted to put her down. But instead medication was given and she was kept

segregated in her own paddock. Although she was now crippled she would

continue to drag yourself around on her front legs in this paddock. And she

would try to go under the fence.

 

One time, returning from Sydney, Ananta found that she had dragged herself

to a corner where there is a drain and she was stuck. By cutting the fence

and putting some feed at some distance she dragged herself out. As the

spring came and the weather got hotter she was given shade and water was

carried to her but she would smash the buckets of water.

 

She would keep trying to crawl into the lower paddock where the bull was.

So they put hay bales around her to try to keep her in one place. Still she

managed to get around this and break through the fence to where the bull

was. It was then decided that she would have to be kept in the barn itself

and to bring her there he used the front-end loader as that seem to be the

most comfortable way to carry her.

 

When she was in the barn they put nearly a hundred bales of hay around her

to keep her in there. Still since she was mobile with her front legs she

moved around and got sores from dragging herself around. During this time

she was looked after with some help from members of the community but after

two months she developed food toxemia and passed away.

 

This is the conclusion of the description of the incident by Ananta prabhu.

 

After this discussion I had an opportunity to visit new Gokula myself. I

remembered that one of the complaints of Niscala was that Gokularani was

kept in a place that had a drain which was dangerous for her. This drain it

is on the side of an enclosure next to the barn. I examined this drain and

took pictures. It is in fact a very shallow and only slightly concave drain

and did not look at all like something that a cow could be caught in.

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  • 6 months later...

Haribol!

 

Why not forward this article to free forum also. Devotees should know about

these things

 

>

> -

> Chalissa1 (AT) aol (DOT) com

> iscowp (AT) earthlink (DOT) net

> Tuesday, July 31, 2001 1:41 AM

> Greetings

 

> It was nice to have made the connection with you after all these years. We

> met many, many years ago in North Carolina at the Iskcon community that

> Maduha Dasa set up. My wife & I had come there to see if we could join, &

> our karma was not to do so yet!

>

>

> The following article is expected to be published in several Indian

> weeklies within a few days.

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