At least 15 cows were found dead mysteriously in Madina Giki in the Central River Region during the week, the Gambia National Livestock Association (GNLA) has said.

According to the Association, the cattle owned by Mayan Baldeh were found dead believed to have been killed with sharp tools. The police have launched an investigation into the unfortunate situation.

The President of the Association, Ebrima O Jallow, told the state broadcaster, GRTS, that “At first they told me they were beaten to death but when we arrived…just looking around and between the two horns of the cows you can find small holes.
But when the livestock assistants or the veterinarians in the region came and operated they found inside the head a big hole. Actually outside is small but inside the head is a big hole.

“If you look at the cows bodies there is nothing like being beaten but all that happened—happened in their heads. I don’t know which object did they use but it must be a very sharp object, they may have used hammer to drill inside the head of animals.”

Mr Jallow said when they arrived at the scene they found no movement of the cattle, adding that what surprised them is that no sign of resistance were found to have been made by the animals.

He said when the veterinarians operated on one of the dead animals they found that the animals were neither poisoned nor killed with gunshot.

Central River Region is prone to cattle rustling in which few weeks ago about 14 cattle were stolen by the rustlers in the Jimara District.

“In Jimara and Fulladu West, we have been receiving a lot of complaints about cattle rustling and just recently cattle were stolen from Jimara and we reported them in Senegal,” he said.

Mr Jallow called for more help from the police saying that “we sometimes find it difficult in certain areas and we really need the support of the Police.”

He called on the National Disaster Management to give support to the owner of the animals, saying that “the owner’s source of income was only based on the milk of the cattle and that he is left with only six cattle”.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba