What would anyone do if he or she found a peacock injured in a farm? At least a few on a 10-point scale, the meat-lovers especially, would grill it or make a delicacy, gobble it up on the sly. For the bird we are talking about is India’s National Bird and consumption of its meat is a crime by law.
But near Pebbair town in a drought-hit Mahabubnagar district on Thursday morning, farmer P. Yella Reddy, who found an injured peacock on his field, behaved like a perfect human being with some values and respect for the law too. He rushed it on his two-wheeler to the Government Veterinary Hospital in the town where it was treated, and after a while, he left it at the police station for safety. When asked, he said it may have been hurt by pig-catchers who were known to hunt peacocks.
On Friday evening, Yella Reddy called this correspondent to inform that he could not find it at the Pebbair police station where he had left the bird on Thursday afternoon.
“We took it to the veterinary doctor who saw that its lower jaw was badly injured. He began treatment - patched up the wound, administered TT and started penicillin. After an hour or so, we took the bird to the police station but on Friday somebody told me it was not there anymore. I fear it is dead. Can you check up and tell me?” he asked.
When this correspondent made telephone calls, finally zeroing in on Sub-Inspector Prakash Yadav, he said: Our staff looked after it well and on Friday we have handed it over to the Forest Department because they understand birds and wildlife better.”
And when this information was conveyed to Yella Reddy, he heaved a sigh of relief. All’s well that ends well !
