This is the heroic moment vets save a sick cow found collapsed behind a building in India.

Footage shows the distressed bovine lying helplessly on the ground as emergency responder administer first aid to the animal in Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh.

The Atal Kamdhenu Gau Sewa Sansthan team, led by NGO chairman Gaurav Mishra, revealed the animal was suffering from lumpy skin disease and was discovered near Saraswati School on October 19.

India has hundreds of thousands of cows roaming its streets.

It is partly due to devout locals who follow Hindu customs, with cows regarded as sacred animals that cannot be eaten or slaughtered once they have stopped producing milk. The majority of states ban the sale or slaughter of cows.

Instead of dealing with the economic burden of keeping their spent cattle, many farmers let the beasts roam the streets - leading to chaos when the animals become agitated and turn their fury on humans.