The Bombay high court has directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to seize Victoria horses suffering from physical ailments or injuries, and keep them off the roads until they recover.
A division bench of chief justice Mohit Shah and justice NM Jamdar directed the petitioners Animal and Birds Charitable Trust, BSPCA, and Animal Welfare board officials to identify horses in need of treatment and report them to the executive health officer of the corporation.
On receipt of the complaint, the health officer is required to call upon the owner of the horse, get the horse examined by the civic body’s veterinary doctor who would issue a medical certificate and till then disallow the horse from carrying any kind of carriage. The court also said that if the owner of the horse does not bring the horse on orders of the health officer, then the corporation can detain the horse till it is treated.
As per a recent report filed by the civic body, 196 out of the 371 horses examined were found to be requiring veterinary treatment.
