Staff and animals at Padmakumar's farmhouse struggle after his arrest, locals request govt intervention

CHATHANNOOR: Following the arrest of Padmakumar, accused of abducting a six-year-old girl from Pooyappally, the staff at his farmhouse in Chirakkara is struggling to meet the expenses of raising the animals there. Ever since Padmakumar entered Tamil Nadu, the farm expenses have been borne entirely by the employee. The employee says that she, being a poor family member, can no longer afford the expenses.

Padmakumar's daughter Anupama is also an animal lover. Recently, Anupama also tried to raise funds through social media aimed at rehabilitating street dogs. Through her website www.anupamapathman.com, she shares stories about dogs she adopted. Anupama has stated on her website that she has cats, dogs and chickens in her home.

"...there are 27 dogs in our family. I was brought up with dogs since I was born, making me a dog lover. So I always consider them as a part of my life.", Anupama has written on her website.

Meanwhile, there are 6 cows, 16 dogs and 20 fancy chickens in the 6.5 acre farm. Cows alone need at least Rs 1000 worth of feed per day. Sheeba continues to work because of the difficulties at home, even though she is not getting regular wages. It will take several more days for Padmakumar to come out. Until then, the locals demand that the animal husbandry department take over the pets. But since it belongs to the person involved in a case the officials of animal husbandry department say that they cannot intervene without a written request from the police.