Indian Cows (and Buffaloes) Are Going Online (economist.com) 23
A new breed of startups wants to formalise cattle trading. The Economist: Livestock fairs, where most animals are still bought and sold, can be expensive and chaotic. Farmers shell out entry fees to register their beasts. They must pay for labourers to load and unload the animals, as well as for transport to and from the fair. They worry about cattle thieves. Making a sales pitch to every prospective customer takes a toll in the heat. And if your cows find no buyers, you must go through the whole rigmarole again, complains Anil Renusay, another cattle farmer in Vajeghar. Then there is fraud, says Satish Birnale, who rears buffaloes in Sangli, a small western city. Some traders inject their animals with steroids. Horns are often polished "as if the cows have just been to a beauty parlour," he says. "It's like searching for a bride in an arranged marriage. We have to be careful and not go just by the looks."
Firms like Pashushala and Animall claim to have solved such problems with a system of checks, including a nod from a local veterinarian. Animall requires sellers to upload videos and pictures of their cattle, and provide details not just of breed or age, but also past pregnancies, how much milk they provide and so on. A team calls every user to verify the information. Ads with blurry photos or listings with pictures taken from the internet are swiftly removed. A close-up of the cow's udders is important. So are comments by the farmer about the animal's temperament. In one video a seller croons, "Beautiful! Oh, look at those singhs (horns)". It is not a new pitch. But it is now easier and cheaper to make.
Firms like Pashushala and Animall claim to have solved such problems with a system of checks, including a nod from a local veterinarian. Animall requires sellers to upload videos and pictures of their cattle, and provide details not just of breed or age, but also past pregnancies, how much milk they provide and so on. A team calls every user to verify the information. Ads with blurry photos or listings with pictures taken from the internet are swiftly removed. A close-up of the cow's udders is important. So are comments by the farmer about the animal's temperament. In one video a seller croons, "Beautiful! Oh, look at those singhs (horns)". It is not a new pitch. But it is now easier and cheaper to make.
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Re: I thought they preferred "Native American"? (Score:3)
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Re: I thought they preferred "Native American"? (Score:4, Interesting)
Hindus don't eat pork in India in general - only Catholics eat pork. Hindus think pigs are dirty animals, even if there isn't a specific religious prohibition on eating them. Chicken, goat and fish are more universally accepted meats, although stricter Hindus and Buddhists are vegetarian.
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It's often surmised that the prohibitions on pork are due to it being associated with trichinosis [wikipedia.org].
Re: I thought they preferred "Native American"? (Score:2)
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new social moodia (Score:3)
Devin Nunes is leading a new startup providing social moodia for India's cows.
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Devin Nunes is leading a new startup providing social moodia for India's cows.
It's being widely described as a good moooove for him, especially given his recent career change [cnbc.com] ...
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The headline practically screams for a Farside cartoon.
Possible name (Score:2)
OkMoopid
Holy cow! (Score:2)
Do Indian gods allow trading their posessions online these days? Since, you now, cows are considered to be sacred animals in India.
What comes next? (Score:2)
Cows on the blockchain? Buying NFT's of cow pictures?
Re: What comes next? (Score:2)
Of course. Because being called "apes" hidden in plain sight wasn't enough, now the need to be called "cattle"
There was always cattle on the internet (Score:2)
And they refuse to go to the pasture that might end their long standing thoughts and beliefs.
Your comment violated the "postercomment" compress (Score:1)
Indian buffalo Indian buffalo buffalo buffalo Indian buffalo Indian buffalo buffalo
not quite the same is it?
What's next? (Score:1)