Panel to frame guidelines for use of horses for joy rides, T.N. govt. informs Madras High Court

Expert committee to regulate horse joy rides in beaches, Tamil Nadu Animal Welfare Board conducts camps for horse licensing.

The Directorate of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services on Tuesday informed the Madras High Court of having decided to constitute an expert committee to frame guidelines aimed at regulating the use of horses for joy rides in beaches and other places.

In a status report filed before the first Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice R. Mahadevan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq, the Director of Animal Husbandry stated that the expert committee would come up with draft guidelines within a period of three months.

State Government Pleader A. Edwin Prabhakar also stated that the Tamil Nadu Animal Welfare Board had conducted camps in Chennai in August and December 2023 for microchipping and licensing the horses so that they could be subjected to periodical medical checkup.

The submissions were made in response to a public interest litigation petition filed by animal rights activist S. Muralidharan who had insisted on issuing a direction to frame guidelines for the welfare of not only the working horses but also the stray horses in order to avoid abuse and neglect.

When the petitioner feared that the horse licensing regime to be introduced by the State government should not end up putting an end to joy rides, the SGP said, the licenses were being issued only to keep a tab on the health of the horses and to provide timely medical treatment.

After hearing both sides, the judges asked the SGP to ensure that the suggestions made by the PIL petitioner were also considered by the Directorate. They said, the petitioner could also be permitted to attend the meetings to be convened for the purpose of framing the guidelines.