Horse in legal spot: Did it give birth or have miscarriage?

A 12-year-old horse at Kariyathampara tourist spot near Koorachundu here is caught in a legal wrangle over whether it had given birth to a colt or not.
Sabinaz, the horse
Sabinaz, the horse

KOZHIKODE: A 12-year-old horse at Kariyathampara tourist spot near Koorachundu here is caught in a legal wrangle over whether it had given birth to a colt or not.

Kannan, the Ooty native owner of the horse — Sabinaz — alleges the animal had given birth when it was in the custody of People for Animals (PFA) but it didn’t hand foal over to him. But PFA argues that Sabinaz had not given birth and that the pregnancy was aborted prematurely in the eighth month on March 3 last year. The case is now in the Perambra judicial first class magistrate court.

It all started in February last year when the police handed over the horse to PFA following a complaint that Kannan had been using the animal for giving rides to tourists at Kariyathampara despite it being injured.

‘It’s likely horse had miscarriage’

“It was after seeing the horse we found that it was pregnant as well. Kannan had not taken care of the animal for eight months during the first lockdown period. We had taken care of the animal for two months in Kozhikode before shifting it to Wadakkanchery in Thrissur. The miscarriage happened in Kozhikode. We have photos of the foetus besides the report of the government vet surgeon on the same,” says Jinsha K, PFA Kozhikode city treasurer.

Meanwhile, Kannan approached the court in April to get back his horse. “The horse was handed over to him only on January 14 this year despite a court ruling to this effect was issued on November 11 last year. It required the police intervention to get back Sabinaz. When the horse was handed over at a house of a PFA member at Feroke, he heard the cries of a foal.

But PFA handed over only the horse to him. Further, the horse was lactating,” says Sumin Nedungadan, counsel for Kannan. According to Nedungadan, Sabinaz was brought to the College of Veterinary and Animal Science at Pookode (KVASU) a few days ago and, after examination, the expert opinion was that they lacked the facility to determine whether the horse had delivered or had a miscarriage. “The experts said its lactating state had evolved through natural process,” the lawyer added.

He further alleged that the horse had only leg injuries when it was taken over by PFA. Now, it has eyesight problem and it is not able to stamp its limbs on the ground. KVASU authorities told TNIE that in all probability, the horse had a miscarriage. “The uterus of the horse was in a normal size and its position indicated zero scope for a recent delivery. Also, lactation can happen even if the animal has not given birth because of hormonal variations,” said Dr Dinesh P T, Assistant professor and head of the department incharge of vet surgery and radiology at Pookode, who had examined Sabinaz.

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