An animal lover’s association rescued a young mare found abandoned and ill on the Maidan, but it did not survived.
The organisation has lodged a formal complaint against the horse’s unknown owner.
An FIR has been drawn up against the unidentified horse owner who allegedly left
the mare without food and water.
“The young horse, suffering from dehydration, was unable to stand or move her hind limbs and was examined by a veterinarian who declared that it had a spinal injury, seemingly hit on the back with a blunt object. Despite emergency treatment, the mare succumbed to the injuries,” said an official of the Calcutta chapter of Peta (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals).
Peta officials alleged that in 2024 alone, at least eight horses were reported dead in Calcutta because of “similar abuse and neglect”, according to data gathered by Peta India and the CAPE Foundation, an organisation working for the protection and welfare of animals.
“Many horses used in the city are anaemic, malnourished, overworked, and
suffer from painful conditions caused by constant use on hard road surfaces,” an animal rights activist said.
Colourful phaetons that ride around the Maidan are a common sight. However, in many cases, the horses are ill or malnourished or can barely stand because of the lack of a healthy diet and rest.
Last summer, Kolkata Police stopped horse carriages operating in the Maidan area in the afternoon to spare the ill-fed and often ailing animals the assault of the heat.
The police said they had asked the horse carriage operators to run only in the evening when the weather is more tolerable.
Officers of Maidan police station said they received a complaint of alleged negligence and cruelty towards
animals but they had yet to identify the young mare’s owner.
A similar complaint was recently lodged by the same organisation at Bhowanipore police station after a video emerged showing a horse hitched to a carriage, slumped on the road. The horse did not seem to have any strength to get back on its legs when a man was seen pulling the animal and trying to make it stand.