Man paints cow to fool welfare officials

By Kanchanamala Bandara 

The welfare society of a government department had donated a milch cow to a poor man in a bid to help him improve his livelihood. However, the donation had been made on condition that the animal should not be sold to another party whatsoever. The beneficiary had been given a booklet containing a photograph and details of the animal.

After the lapse of a few months, the cow owner in abject poverty had sold the animal to fulfil his habit of consuming alcohol. Subsequent to a couple of days, he was informed that officials from the welfare society who gifted the animal would call over for inspection and review if the beneficiary had been able to improve his livelihood by selling cow milk.  The man who immediately started looking for a cow similar to that he had managed to find one with great difficulty. Although its size and colour matched, the newly-found didn’t have a birthmark on its head like the one he sold did. He then opted to paint a white patch on its forehead and then tethered it to a post in thorny shrubs making it difficult for welfare members to gain access to the animal.