Pakistan’s Sindh provincial government teams up with local NGO to provide prosthetic limbs for amputees
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Sindh provincial government is working closely with a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) to treat and rehabilitate a camel whose leg was chopped off by a local landowner this week, an official from the NGO looking after the camel said on Sunday.
The move came after widespread reports in local media that a landowner in Mund Jamrao village in Sindh’s Sanghar district had allegedly chopped off the feet of a camel that had trespassed into his field in search of fodder.
The owner of the camel, a poor farmer named Soomar Behan, was contacted by the police after the incident went viral on social media but refused to lodge a complaint against the landowner after the police took action.
Five people were arrested for their alleged involvement in the crime, and Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon confirmed that a case had been filed on behalf of the province against those suspected of mutilating the camel.
On Saturday, CDRS Benji, a non-profit organization that rescues lost and injured animals in Pakistan, treated the camel at one of its shelters in the provincial capital, Karachi.
“The Sindh government has been working closely with the CDRS Benji project to treat and rehabilitate the camels,” Sara Jahangir, director of CDRS Benji, told Arab News.
“They are [Sindh government] We called in a team from BIONIKS Pakistan to prepare the prosthetic limbs.”
She said everyone has come together to help the eight-month-old female camel as she is in severe pain and it will take time to fit her with a prosthetic limb and about two months for her wounds to heal before they can give her proper measurements.
“We are using strong painkillers, antibiotics and other medicines to try to cure her infection and ease her pain,” Jahangir added.
Anas Niaz, co-founder of Pakistani biotech start-up BIONIKS, said his organisation is working on manufacturing camel limbs.
“The camel’s limbs are currently being treated and will take about one to two months to heal after which its rehabilitation will begin,” he told Arab News.
“Camels will need to be replaced from time to time so this will be an ongoing process that we are actively managing.”
Bionix said it is committed to the welfare of camels in need and that a team led by co-founder and CEO Ovais Hussain Qureshi visited camel shelters in Karachi to assess the animals’ condition and provide assistance.
“We are working tirelessly to ensure the affected camel is mobile and comfortable until his wounds have fully healed,” the group said. “Our efforts aim to ease the affected camel’s suffering and promote his recovery, demonstrating our unwavering dedication to this animal.”
Section 429 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) states that anyone who kills, poisons, injures or renders useless any animal worth Rs 10 lakh or more shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to two years or with fine, or with both.
Earlier, Sindh Information Minister Memon confirmed the registration of a case against the suspects and described the amputations as “inhumane and unacceptable”.
“The poor animal is being given proper treatment while the police carry out their duties,” Shazia Ata Marri, a member of parliament from Sanghar, Pakistan, wrote on X.
CDRS Benji said staff had cleaned the camel’s wounds to ensure they were not infected.
“Cammy the camel is settling into her new home,” the NGO wrote on Facebook, along with a video of the camel, with a white bandage on its leg, eating food.
“She was in a lot of pain and being brought to the shelter was traumatic for her, but now she is taking in and feeding on everything around her with her beautiful, intelligent eyes.”
