18 April,2012 07:20 AM IST | | A Correspondent
Following MiD DAY's report on how strangles-infected racehorses were admitted to the veterinary hospital in Parel, spreading fear of contagion,u00a0the hospital has asked the Amateur Race Club (ARC) members to take their horses back.u00a0On Saturday, this paper had reported that over half a dozen horses from the city's racecourse had been afflicted by a lethal respiratory infection called strangles.
MiD DAY's report on April 14
Horses shifted
In order to protect other horses at the turf club, the ARC had shifted five infected horses to the Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA). But they failed to inform the facility of the infectious nature of the disease. Inside info Sources from BSPCA revealed that following MiD DAY's report they called up the club authorities and asked them to take back the infected horses immediately. Officials said that keeping the horses at the facility could be dangerous to other animals. Strangles, which affects horses, donkeys and other equids is communicable, and has proved to be fatal in cases. Symptoms include fever and a swollen throat.
Doctorspeak
"Firstly, they have not bothered to inform us about the status of the horses admitted to our hospital. Then, when our doctors called them up, they were not keen on listening to us. But we have conveyed our message to them," said a doctor from BSPCA. Asked if the BSPCA has taken any step to evacuate the infected horses from the hospital, Dr (Col) J C Khanna, BSPCA preferred to remain ambiguous. He neither confirmed nor denied the report.u00a0
