Abandonment of Foal and Mare Injured in Road Accident Results in Renewed Calls for Cruel Horse Carriages to Be Replaced With Electric Vehicles
In a joint effort, PETA India and CAPE Foundation have rescued an abandoned foal and his mother, who had open wounds and was covered in blood. The animals were found in the Maidan area near Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, where several horses are hitched to carriages for tourist rides. A first information report was filed by the Maidan Police Station under sections 291/62/3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and sections 3 and 11 (1) (a) and (h) of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. The mare and her foal were taken to a sanctuary, where they have been receiving necessary and urgent veterinary care.
Before
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The mare was emaciated, severely injured, and in a state of extreme distress with a deep, untreated wound on her right shoulder, swollen fetlock joints indicative of osteoarthritis, and signs of malnutrition. Such a pathetic state is consistent with the prolonged neglect and harsh conditions faced by horses forced to haul tourist carriages on Kolkata’s roads. The foal, dependent on the mare, was malnourished and also at significant risk of being involved in a traffic accident. The owner had allegedly abandoned the mare after she collided with a vehicle, leaving her and the foal to suffer and die.
After
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In recent months, at least eight horses have died in Kolkata – as evidenced by information documented by PETA India and CAPE Foundation. Through investigations, dozens of horses in the city have been found to be anaemic, malnourished, and chronically starved and often with serious health conditions such as broken bones. Even though working on hard roads leads to irreversible leg conditions, they are still made to pull heavy carriages. When they’re not working, there’s no relief, as they’re forced to stand in their own faeces without shelter.
Recently, Calcutta High Court took serious note of incidents in which horses collapsed at the Maidan and elsewhere in Kolkata from poor health. The court also noted other issues such as the wide-scale prevalence of unlicensed hackney carriages in the city and the high rate of abandonment of ailing and unfit horses by their owners. The court directed the state government to come forward with a proposal for rehabilitating horse owners and providing them with an alternative livelihood to hauling tourists in carriages so that “dispensing with the horse drawn carriages as done in Mumbai can be considered and examined for its feasibility”. In Mumbai, horse-drawn carriages have been replaced by beautiful heritage-style e-carriages.
The use of horses to pull carriages creates a risk of spreading zoonotic diseases such as glanders, which is almost always fatal in humans, especially when the animals are in a deteriorated condition and lack suitable veterinary care. Their use on the roads also poses a serious traffic hazard.
PETA India has repeatedly pleaded with authorities in West Bengal to spare horses further suffering. We are also working through a public interest litigation being heard in Calcutta High Court to prohibit the use of horses for hauling carriages in the city.
