COIMBATORE: Officials of the animal husbandry department along with the members of Tamil Nadu Animal Welfare Board (TNAWB) rescued camels, horses and bonnet macaques from an illegal private farm near Sulur near Coimbatore. The animals were sent to Chennai, Nilgiris and Coimbatore where NGOs will take care of them.
Based on a tip-off that workers of the farm ‘Sangamithra’ were abusing the animals and not taking care of them, volunteers from an NGO visited the place. As they witnessed the cruelty against the animals, they approached the animal husbandry department and TNAWB, who then inspected the farm on November 18. A case was registered against the farm owner, Manikandan.
Shruti Vinodh Raj Member of TNAWB said, “The NGO was filing complaints from August and we requested the farm to hand over the animals multiple times in the last couple of months. However, he denied it. Following this, we conducted a direct inspection on November 18 and found animals in horrible condition as they were not provided food or medical treatment. No medical records of the animal were also kept on the farm.”
“During the investigation, we have found that the three camels went missing and one died due to their cruel upkeep. Keeping camels in captivity in Tamil Nadu is banned. However, the owner was collecting money for tickets and displaying camels for the public. Moreover, he transported the camels to Kerala without getting proper permission from TNAWB to take part in an exhibition. Kerala police have registered an FIR against them,” she added.
The officials rescued the animals and two camels were shifted to People for Animals Shelter in Chennai. Four horses and two donkeys were shifted to India Project For Animal and Nature (IPAN) in Nilgiris and one dog and two pups were shifted to Humane Animal Society in Coimbatore for care and maintenance.