PUNE: Sattar Murtuza Shaikh of New Nana Peth has decided to break a 90-year-old tradition of keeping cows at home after the Pune police filed a case of dangerous ferrying of animals against him and seized the cattle, recently.He will donate them to an organization after a final decision by the court.Shaikh owns two cows and a calf that he keeps for milk . He lives in a modest house in Bhavani Peth (now known as New Nana Peth) and lets the cows and the calf roam on the roads as he does not have the space to keep them. "Earlier, there were open plots where cows used to feed. Now, there are none," he said.Civic authorities have frequently seized them since they roam on the roads like strays. Shaikh pays the fine every time, Rs 600 for the calf and Rs 1,200 for the cow, and rescues them. He said he may have paid up to Rs 50,000 so far."I keep two cows and a calf out of sheer love. It is not a hobby and neither am I in the business of selling them. I will never allow them to be slaughtered. I want to keep them with me," he said, looking with concern at his ageing cow.The Shaikh family's love for cows started 90 years ago. "My great grandfather came to Pune from Karnataka. He bought a cow to provide milk for the family. Since then, we have always had cows at home. My father too kept the cows for milk and I continued with the tradition. I have been looking after them since my childhood and my four sons grew up on cow milk," he said.Matters took a rough turn last month. Shaikh, who runs a transport company, was ferrying home one of his cows and the calf in his tempo from the civic body's pound in Kothrud after paying the fine, when he was forced to stop by policemen and some activists."The activists claimed I was transporting the cows to a slaughter house. I pleaded my case before the police, but they did not listen. Finally, the cow and the calf were taken back to the pound and a case was filed against me," Shaikh said.Senior police inspector B G Misal of Alankar police station said Shaikh was booked for dangerous transport of the animals and not for trying to sell or attempting to take the cows for slaughter. "After a scrutiny of his papers, we realized that the cows belonged to Shaikh, and he was not taking them for slaughter," Misal added.Police then moved the cow and the calf to a shelter at Panjarpol near Katraj. Shaikh had to approach a city court, requesting their release. The court heard the case, and finally ordered the cattle's release. It also ordered him not to sell or gift them. His vehicle was released against a bond of Rs 3 lakh.