Close on the heels of slaughter of 23 camels at Ookondi in Munugode mandal of Nalgonda district last Thursday, thirty-two more of these humped mammals died of diseases from unhygienic conditions, exhaustion and rigours of transportation here.
The 32 camels were among the 97 recently rescued by police in Hyderabad after they were brought from Rajasthan for joy ride and slaughter.
While 30 of them died till Friday, two more met the same fate on Saturday. Of the remaining 65 camels, the condition of 35 was critical. All the camels were rescued 10 days ago by Rachakonda police. On a tip-off, police teams raided a place in Shaheennagar near Balapur of Old City on November 9. “There were 97 camels. They were kept inside a walled compound by three persons. The trio were arrested,” L.B. Nagar DCP M. Venkateshwar Rao said. The Rachakonda police kept the camels on the same premises where they were kept by the accused.
In the following week, 25 camels died. Police handed over the remaining camels to Bharatiya Prani Mitra Sangh and Greater Hyderabad Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, NGOs working for the protection of animals. “We shifted them to a farm house spread over 100 acres in Abdullahpurmet of Hayathnagar.” Five camels died while undergoing treatment. According to Dattatraya Joshi of People for Animals, camels were crammed in trucks and brought to Hyderabad in unhygienic conditions. Lack of medical care during transportation led to the deterioration of camels’ health, he felt. “Our doctors said that more than 35 camels were still in critical condition. Most of them had itching due to insect bites and need better medical treatment,” Mr Joshi said. He had filed a petition in the court seeking permission to transport them back to Rajasthan.
The camels were brought to Hyderabad for slaughtering and joy rides, he added.
