Beastly tale from here & there

When I reached the spot the horse was lying in the middle of the road and a small crowd had gathered. The animal looked emaciated, dehydrated and in deep shock. As he was lying on his right side, we could see his left eye was blinded by cataract. Even in the dim light, the sores on his body were apparent. Then, as he made attempts to get up,someone in the crowd said this was the fourth “convulsion” the horse had had.

My first priority was to treat him for shock and stress. By the time I injected him, somebody in the crowd had managed to arrange for a pail of water. However, the horse – thirsty and starved – couldn’t lift himself enough to drink. One concerned person in the crowd then poured water with his hands into the horse’s mouth which the animal gratefully drank. We waited and watched as the horse made a few futile attempts to get up. The SPCA had been called. Dr Satnam Ahuja of `Ahimsa’ arrived with the news that the SPCA Horse Ambulance was on its way. Other concerned persons who had stopped to help included Parizad Hodywalla, an avid riding enthusiast and a woman who stood there throughout in the drizzle encouraging us.

As we watched over the horse, Minister of State for Home Gajanan Kirtikar happened to be passing by. Being an animal lover himself, he got out of the car and stood in the crowd and made enquiries.

Nobody ran forcover as the drizzle intensified into pouring rain. Instead, we all stood waiting and wishing as the horse made a valiant effort to stand, staggered to his feat, but collapsed again. Soon afterwards he made another determined effort and this time he was up. He stood for a while before we began baiting him towards the side-walk. Police stopped the traffic for the horse, who could barely walk. It was only when he got up that we realised that his right eyeball was missing.

As the horse struggled up the wet ramp of the SPCA Horse Ambulance, people demanded to know what would become of the animal once he was treated and what would be done to see that his owner was punished. It was only when Dr Ahuja said she would adopt the horse and the minister said he would look into the matter, that the crowd dispersed.

But I hope everyone in the crowd realises that there are many other horses who are worked till they die of malnutrition, there are many other stray dogs that are tortured daily for no reason and there arescores of cats which are killed for no fault of theirs. Behind every such act of cruelty against animals is at least one human being. When we stand up for animal rights, we do them no favour. We just try to undo, as much as possible, the damage the human race has done.

The horse has been taken by the SPCA to its veterinary hospital. The animal is “all right” said Satnam Ahuja of `Ahimsa’. He is on the drip and medicines. The horse is around six to seven years old (on an average a horse lives for 20 to 30 years). Ahuja confirms that the horse is blind in both eyes. While his one eyeball is missing and in the other eye opacity has set in. “He is just skin and bones and his body is full of wounds, especially his back.” Ahuja says the horse would be shifted in a weeks’ time to a shelter at Bhiwandi where AHIMSA will look after him. The owner of the horse, meanwhile, is still absconding. The Azad Maidan police have his cart in their possession.