Kolkata: FIR Registered After Abandoned Horse Dies From Spinal Injury Just Days After Viral Video of Another Collapsed Carriage Horse Shocks Nation

In the first week of May, a first information report (FIR) was registered at the Maidan Police Station following the death of a mare who had been found abandoned and recumbent at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata. The emaciated horse, suffering from dehydration, was unable to stand or move her hind limbs and was determined by a veterinarian to have a spinal injury, seemingly by being hit on the back with a blunt object. Despite emergency treatment, the mare succumbed to her injuries. The incident occurred just days after an FIR was registered at the Bhawanipur Police Station following a disturbing video surfacing on social media showing one of the two horses hitched to a carriage collapsed on the road.

The FIR was registered under Section 125, 291 and 325 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for negligent conduct with an animal posing a probable danger to human life, danger arising from an animal in a public area and for rendering the animal useless and voluntarily causing the death of an animal by inflicting irreversible harm, including through acts of abandonment. The case also invokes multiple sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960, including Section 3 for failing in the duty of care, Section 11(1)(a), (f) and (h) for overworking and inflicting unnecessary suffering, for unreasonably tethering the animal, and for failure to provide adequate food, water, and shelter. Additionally, Section 3(5) of the BNS was invoked for committing crimes in furtherance of a common intention.

This young mare died in agony because she was abused and left to die when she was most in need of care.

Just recently, a disturbing video surfaced on social media showing a horse who was visibly emaciated, likely suffering from heat stroke and dehydration collapsed on the ground while the handler could be seen shouting at the horse to haul the carriage again.

A dehydrated and emaciated horse suffered a heatstroke and collapsed in Kolkata, as the handler slapped and yelled at the horse.

We commend the  @KolkataPolice for registering an FIR following a PETA India complaint.

Nobody should have to endure such cruelty!
Help us rescue… pic.twitter.com/i1reNpsPaZ

— PETA India (@PetaIndia) April 29, 2025

 

Horses continue to collapse, suffer severe injuries, and die in the heart of Kolkata for tourist rides. It’s high time for authorities to end this abusive practice and transition to electric vehicles.

In 2024 alone, at least eight horses were reported dead in Kolkata due to similar abuse and neglect, according to data gathered by PETA India and the CAPE Foundation. Investigations reveal that many horses used in the city are anaemic, malnourished, overworked, and suffer from painful conditions caused by constant use on hard road surfaces.

The Calcutta High Court has already noted the systemic cruelty faced by horses used for rides in Kolkata, including their abandonment when sick or injured and the widespread use of unlicensed hackney carriages. The court directed the state government to develop a proposal for rehabilitating horse owners and providing them with an alternative livelihood to hauling tourists in carriages so that “dispensing with the horse-drawn carriages as done in Mumbai can be considered and examined for its feasibility.”