Mumbai : A month after two horses— which were part of an illegal tonga race— fell off the Andheri flyover to death, the Bombay SPCA along with Plants and Animals Welfare Society (PAWS) Mumbai, an NGO, rescued two horses from a person suspected to be one who had owned the dead horses. The horses were rescued by the SPCA from the house of Robert Sakipilis at Dharam Sai Nagar slum in Andheri after a six-hour long raid on Thursday .
As Sakipilis is absconding, his wife Reeta Sakipilis (35) was taken to the Sahar police station where a case has been filed under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act for keeping the animals in bad condition without access to adequate water, food and shelter. The SPCA officials said Reeta moved the Andheri court on Friday and she was granted bail after paying a fine of Rs 800.
When Newsline contacted Reeta Sakipilis, she refused to comment on the issue.
The horses, adult grey studs, were found to be kept in dismal conditions in makeshift sheds with no provision for clean drinking water. Also, there were multiple injuries on their bodies. They are now recuperating at the BSPCA hospital in Parel. Lt Colonel (Retd) Dr J C Khanna, secretary of the hospital said, “One horse is anaemic and has a large wound in its neck probably caused after using cheap saddles. The other horse is injured in its left limb. The treatment will take about 15-20 days.”
On June 16, Newsline had visited a plot of wasteland behind Hotel Leela near Sahar Road in Andheri. Residents in the area had admitted that the dead horses belonged to Sakipillis, a resident of Dharam Sai Nagar. According to them, these horses were used for wedding parties, races and joyrides.
PAWS representative Sunish Subramanian, who accompanied Newsline to the spot, later filed an FIR at the Andheri Police and the investigation is still on.
Subramanian said, “The SPCA recently approached us to organise a raid. On Thursday, I along with six SPCA inspectors and one field officer made an impromptu visit to the spot and found three horses kept in makeshift sheds. Two other horses were also found in an open plot nearby. The animals had several small injuries and were very weak. They were eating something from a garbage bin.”
However, when the inspectors reached the spot, the Sakipilis family whisked away one horse to a field nearby, where two other horses were found.
SPCA field officer Manohar Jadhav, who led the raid, said, “We visited the spot at 12.30 pm and found the horses. However, when we began questioning the Sakipilis family, the slumdwellers ganged up and there was a riot like situation. But somehow we managed to rescue two horses after six hours.”
Sakipilis can take the horses back to their place after the animals fully recover. However, they will have to pay for the animals’ treatment.
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