Greater Hyderabad Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals along with two other NGOs rescued 30 camels from Rayachoti in Kadapa on August 1 and has made arrangements to transport them back to Rajasthan.
Mr. Soudharm Bhandari, Co-ordinator, GHSPCA, told The Hindu that they got a tip-off that 150 camels were being illegally transported to Rayachoti in Kadapa ahead of Bakrid festival and they reached the place and could only rescue 30 camels with the help of Kadapa Additional SP Srinivas Reddy and Collector Hari Kiran.
The camels were taken from there first to an animal shelter Chaitra Gaushala, Mandya, Karnataka with the help of Border Security Force. “We raised the money from the Jain community to transport them back to Rajasthan. The camels are loaded into seven trucks with proper food, medicine, camel handlers and a veterinary doctor. The trucks will leave from Bangalore on Thursday night and they will be handed over to People for Animals, Sirohi, Rajasthan for their care and shelter,” said Mr. Bhandari, who is also accompanying the trucks with his team in a four-wheeler .
The trucks are expected to reach Rajasthan in four to five days. The total cost for transportation is estimated at ₹5 lakh including ₹3.85 lakh for the trucks, ₹35,000 for crane for loading them, medicines, fee for camel handlers and veterinary doctor. The amount was raised by members of Jain Samaj in Hyderabad and Bangalore, he said.
Mr. Bhandari said that it was illegal to transport camels from Rajasthan and in the last five years GHSPCA, along with Bharatiya Prani Mitra Sangh (BPMS) and Gau Gyan Foundation (GGF) rescued over 500 camels in Telangana and over 1,500 camels in rest of the States as every year they were being transported to other States for slaughter and to sell the meat.
He said these camels were slaughtered in the open places in inhuman way and at times with the connivance of police. Many times they would talk to animal welfare activists, district authorities to rescue the camels. “This time we spoke to animal lover and former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi who in turn spoke to Kadapa District Collector and they helped in rescuing 30 camels”.
Dr.Vishwa Chaitanya said the animals were fit for transportation and a veterinary doctor would monitor their health during the transit.
