THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala has a dedicated veterinary squad in each district to attend its jumbo brigade, despite the state having less than 500 captive elephants. But many of the vet species in the state are not lucky enough to get expert health care, despite many species having huge fan following.
A 24-year-old Sruti Chandran from Puthukkad in Thrissur invited the attention of Chief Minister and Prime Minister to the issue of the equine population in the state after her horse brought from Gujarat for riding purpose died due to the alleged delay in providing expert health care to the horse by the veterinary authorities at the Government Veterinary Hospital Mannuthy in Thrissur.
Speaking to Express, Sruti, who bought a healthy two and half-year-old Kathyawadi Horse called Kalyani from Gujarat to train the people and children nearby in her vicinity under the training club, Cavalry Equestrian Riding Club, as part of earning a livelihood, said her horse was diagnosed with colic which is one of the leading medical causes of death in horses, similar to Erandakettu in elephants, and it died despite the animal being taken to the veterinary hospital with the help of fire force personnel.
"The animal which showed acute abdomen pain and excessive bleeding after its uterus was ejected out of its position, didn’t get expert health care despite knocking the doors of a vet specialist who has expertise in attending horses in the veterinary hospital in advance. The horse received the attention of only some vet PG students and they were unable to save the animal from its plight," she said.
"It was very painful for me and I seek the intervention of the chief minister and prime minister to get timely health care service of dedicated equine specialists to the remaining lots in the state," she said.
Dany Davis, horse riding instructor of Dr Raju Davis International School, Thrissur, said "It’s very sad to note that despite around 5000 odd equine population in the state, no dedicated equine specialist was appointed anywhere in the state. Thrissur alone has around 600 horses brought as pets and for providing training in competitive equestrian events, but no dedicated service of an equine specialist was available. Horse riding and rearing has been emerging as one of the main sports and vocations in the state over the years and it’s high time to provide the dedicated emergency service of equine specialists," he added.
Dr M K Narayanan, Director of Entrepreneurship, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU), said there are a lot of challenges for providing species based expert health care to animals in Kerala in the current milieu. But the state will have to rise to the occasion and provide dedicated health care for the equine population similar to elephants as it has the men and machinery to provide dedicated healthcare to various animals.
The university has already started a discussion to provide emergency health care to animals round the day if the animals are brought to the dedicated centers, he said.