Journalism of Courage
The leg of Uttarakhand Police horse Shaktiman, who was allegedly attacked by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA during a protest in Dehradun, has been amputated.
After cutting the leg with surgical operation, a prosthetic leg is fitted in Shaktiman at police line in Dehradun.
According to reports, doctors diagnosed that blood supply to injured leg had stopped so it had to be amputated.
The horse was hit with wooden sticks, allegedly by BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi and his associates. Under attack, Shaktiman kept stepping back from the group of protesters, till one of her legs buckled and got stuck in a railing. But the attack did not stop. Unable to move away from the mob, her left hind leg started bleeding profusely and she collapsed. She suffered multiple fractures on her left hind leg bone.
Local veterinary doctors, on Monday, feared that the damaged leg may have to be amputated. But on Tuesday, a team of veterinary doctors performed a five-hour-long operation on Shaktiman, after which they announced that she should be back on her feet in six weeks.
Brought from Delhi in 2006 when she was four years old, Shaktiman is a snowy-white, 5 feet 8 inches tall, Kathiawari mare. She received training at the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Academy, Phillaur, in Punjab.
Considered one of the oldest horse breeds in the country, Kathiawari horses have great stamina and endurance.
Jammie Wagan American preparing the prosthetic leg before the amputation of Shaktiman's leg.
