NEW DELHI: On April 20, battered police horse Shaktiman quietly passed away. The horse had fractured her leg and had needed it amputated as she was injured whilst on duty at a protest march in Dehradun on March 14. BJP's Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi made the news as reports emerged that he had allegedly beaten the police horse, causing it to break its leg.

Although Shaktiman was fitted with a prosthetic leg, with an expert flying in all the way from the United States to oversee the procedure, the infection caused by the initial injury finally won out. "Shaktiman was injured on March 14 after which we had to operate on him. He was later fitted with an artificial leg. But he was unable to fully recover from an infection," SSP Dehradun Sadanand Date has been quoted as saying. "The horse passed away at 5.30 PM. He was suffering from medical-related complications. The exact cause will be known only after post-mortem," IG Garhwal Sanjay Gunjyal added.

"Though the artificial limb was put on Shaktiman, it was not working well and he was putting his entire weight on the another leg. That is why the infection spread. Today also a lot of care was taken and about eight doctors attended to the horse. It is sad that we could not save him," R S Meena, IG Law and Order, Uttarakhand, explained.

For many, the fact that Shaktiman didn’t make it in the end isn’t entirely surprising. “I desperately hoped that Shaktiman would be able to adjust to the prosthetic leg, and although I am entirely supportive of the effort to give the horse a fighting chance, a small part of me wished early on that Shaktiman was put out of her misery. Fractures are very complicated medical conditions when it comes to horses, and I feel it was unrealistic to expect that Shaktiman could overcome what most horses can’t,” says Neha Jaiswal, who has owned and ridden horses for years.

I’ve heard the same sentiment -- that Shaktimaan should have perhaps been euthanised instead of having to suffer -- echoed by several people, most of whom are unequivocal animal lovers.

But what if Shaktimaan had made a full recovery? What if she had adjusted to her prosthetic leg, and in time, was able to walk and amble about? Would the ‘animal lovers’ who had secretly wished that Shaktimaan be put down change their tune? And didn’t Shaktiman at the very least deserve the chance to prove her skeptics wrong?

If ‘animal lovers’ in this country start advocating euthanasia when other options have still not been exhausted, horses and other animals far less fortunate than Shaktimaan don’t stand a chance at all.

Let’s be clear, Shaktimaan was one lucky horse. She had the best facilities, experts and treatment -- and she was given a fighting chance.

Most animals are not so lucky. Dogs and cats on the streets are often run over, or put to sleep after suffering injuries at the hands of careless if not violent passers-by. Those canines and felines that are lucky enough to have a home are often abandoned when sick or old (just ask Friendicoes to elaborate on this one).

Cows -- the most holy of all Indians -- are let loose on highways and busy traffic intersections, with their survival being more a game of dice than the will of a benevolent God.

Horses, whether privately owned or in service of the state, are put down with minor injuries or just old age, as they are costly to maintain and of ‘no purpose’ once past their prime. Even whilst alive, most horses are overworked -- pulling carts or attending weddings -- and often die of exhaustion and dehydration.

Rhinos, tigers, elephants are all mercilessly poached, with the men hunting them often in cahoots with guards and forest officials mandated with the task of protecting them. Elephants in service are chained and beaten, with countless stories of elephants that have been rescued breaking our hearts over and over again.

Name an animal, and think of the abuse it has to suffer -- overtly in the form of violence, mistreatment, abandonment or poaching, and covertly be it loss of habitat, encroachment, pollution or environmental degradation.

And what about the perpetrators of such violence? Ganesh Joshi made the headlines for political reasons -- whereas the many nameless and faceless Indians that abuse animals on a daily basis are not chastised but instead embraced?

What’s the point of blaming Joshi when you yourself have tortured or abused a horse (and believe you me, blaring music and an overweight inexperienced rider bouncing on the back of a -- often bleached -- white horse is most certainly tantamount to abuse)?

What’s the point of blaming Joshi if you’ve turned away a street dog to buy a cute, golden labrador, only to abandon said cutie when he’s nine years old and suffering from arthritis?

What’s the point of blaming Joshi if you’ve sat on a domesticated elephant, and fed it ‘gur’ (they like that, don’t they?) after the ride whilst it’s been chained to a large tree?

My point is, demanding that Joshi be punished is meaningless unless we -- collectively -- make an effort to treat animals in this country with more compassion, accountability and understanding.

At one level, that effort involves demanding that Joshi be punished, and that laws that put a measly fine of Rs. 50 in cases of animal abuse be changed. At another level, it involves demanding that animals be freed from service as and where possible -- be it enslaved elephants or police horses.

However, at the most important level, it involves putting out a bowl of water for stray dogs, cats and birds in the summer; using a bike instead of a horse in wedding processions; adopting a dog instead of buying one, and only after carefully thinking through what it means to take on the responsibility of a pet; and perhaps, demanding that more animals be given a fighting chance than advocating putting them down based on a misplaced sense of mitigated suffering.

RIP Shaktiman <3

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