Legal notice served on govt authorities

Three environmental and animal rights organisations yesterday sent a legal notice addressing the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry, Department of Environment and 11 others regarding the demise of 21 horses in Cox's Bazar in the last one month.

In the notice, the organisations -- Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers' Association (BELA), People for Animal Welfare Foundation (PAW), and Youth Environment Society (YES) -- demanded better care for the horses, used as tourist attractions, and legal punishment for the owners and supervisors of the deceased horses.

According to the document, Cox's Bazar is home to more than 200 such horses. Since the dawn of the Covid-19 pandemic, the horses began facing unimaginable difficulties, as business fell in the region.

This resulted in 40 deaths last year and 21 more in just the last one month.

The notice said lack of sufficient diet is the primary reason behind the deaths, and some of the deaths were caused by physically weakened horses' becoming accident-prone while plying the road. The famished horses are also vulnerable to long-term illnesses due to eating plastic and waste, it said.

According to the country's law, this failure to care for the animals and working them in a state of illness can be seen as animal cruelty, which is a punishable offense, the document said. The three organisations demanded that the authorities concerned prepare a list of horse owners and ensure the horses are provided with safe food and living environments.

In addition, the organisations sought legal punishment for the horse owners and supervisors whose failures have caused misery to the animals.

The notice asked  respondents to inform of their steps in this regard within the next five days, the exception of which will result in legal action.