Maidan: Malnourished, gastritis-afflicted and sometimes injured horses are being used to keep alive the touristy tradition of a hackney carriage ride along Victoria Memorial and the Maidan.

Members of a non-governmental organisation that provides veterinary medicines and medical advice to hackney owners said the horses frequently come down with fever induced by tick-bite infections. Gastritis and wounds that need more than an ointment are also common.

Most of the animals are underfed, making them more susceptible to infections and ailments that can be managed only with proper infrastructure, according to an official of the NGO.

"Almost all the animals here are malnourished. If they need 5kg of fodder, most probably get 2kg. They also seldom get vegetables or even fresh grass to eat. Since the owners are themselves poor, upkeep is a big challenge," Sushmita Roy, executive member of Life N Care for Animals, told Metro .

New mother Muskan and her spitting image, two-day-old Pinky, were among the 15 horses treated by veterinarian Joydeb Banerjee at a camp organised by the NGO on Sunday. He prescribed calcium and vitamin tablets for Muskan and the other mares. Some of them also need deworming, he said.

"These horses should be administered anti-rabies and equine vaccines every year. The second one is meant to prevent fever caused by ticks, which these horses tend to suffer from a lot. But there is no infrastructure and system to ensure that they get these shots and their health records are maintained," said Banerjee, a retired officer of the state animal resources development department.

Several horses have cuts and wounds that refuse to heal. Some of these injuries are picked up during fights. Horseshoes and the whips used by hackney drivers are also responsible for wounds that invite infection. "We advise the hackney drivers to use flat, belt-like objects instead of whips with sharp edges," Roy said.

A driver who had been using a thick wire with a prickly end as a whip was told how even a small cut caused by it could lead to a fatal infection.

Life N Care for Animals has been holding health camps for these horses since 2008. The camps are held every week opposite Victoria Memorial, where about 60 hackney carriages operate.

Roy's team on Sunday included a schoolteacher, a doctor attached to the RBI and an employee of the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, all of them taking time out during the afternoon to care for the horses.