Kasaragod: An elderly dairy farmer died by suicide after slipping into depression following the death of his two-year-old bull, which had been bitten by a rabid dog. The deceased is Narayanan (80) of Balanadukka near Bovikanam in Muliyar grama panchayat.

Narayanan was a well-known paddy, arecanut and dairy farmer, deeply attached to his cattle. On December 31, a stray dog wandered into his field and bit the bull on its muzzle while it was tethered in the open ground of the family’s ancestral property.

“Children were playing nearby when the dog came in and bit the bull. Luckily, it did not attack the children,” said his nephew Dineshan K Narayanan’s daughter Bindu, who saw it and raised an alarm.

The dog was found dead a few days later, triggering fears of rabies. Although the bull was given an anti-rabies vaccine, it began showing symptoms and died on January 18. As a precaution, Narayanan, his daughter Bindu and daughter-in-law T Suchitra began taking anti-rabies injections from the day the young bull started showing symptoms. From the day of the bite, the bull had been tied separately.

Narayanan owned two milking cows and their calves. Together, the cows yielded about 10 litres of milk daily, six litres in the morning and four in the evening. He sold the milk to neighbours and nearby eateries.

“After the dog bite, people stopped buying milk from him,” Dineshan said. “He was upset, but he also understood their fear.”

According to the family, after nearly 10 days, a neighbour called to say they were ready to start buying milk again. “That was the very day he consumed poison,” Dineshan said.

Narayanan was found in a critical condition at his home on Thursday and was taken to the E K Nayanar Hospital in Chengala, where he died on Friday.

He had earlier worked for many years as a labourer at the Vidyanagar unit of the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Limited (Campco).

He is survived by his wife Padmavathi; sons Vinod, a tiles mason, and Viju, a headload worker with Campco; daughter Bindu; daughters-in-law T Suchitra of Panoor, and Rajitha of Narambady; and son-in-law Krishnan of Jalsoor.

Dineshan said Narayanan was financially stable. “Money was not the reason,” he said. “He was too attached to his cows.”