Varsity organises 19 horse-based veterinary camps in Mandi district

The Department of Animal Pathology, Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University (CSKHPKV), Palampur, successfully conducted horse-based veterinary and awareness camps across 19 locations in Mandi district under the “Ghoda Project,” sponsored by the ICAR-National Equine Research Centre, Haryana.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Naveen Kumar lauded the initiative, calling it a significant step in improving the lives of rural horse keepers. He appreciated Dr Rakesh Kumar and his team for leading the camps and stressed the importance of expanding such efforts to other districts.

The camps were held in villages including Dugren, Gohar, Bag, Shala, Barjohru, Jachch, Bagsyad, Thunag, Janjehli, Karsog, Dharamour, Pangna, Nihri, Rohanda, Saiglu, Kotli, Gokhara and Kun. Services included health check-ups for horses, mules, and donkeys, parasite control via blood and fecal testing, nutritional counselling and training on disease identification, prevention, and treatment.

Free medicines, literature on hygiene and diseases and nutritional supplements were distributed to livestock keepers. Dr Sonali Mishra extended the effort to Kangra district by organising a parallel camp at Paprola.

Key contributors to the programme included Dr RK Mishra, Dr Asrani (Head of Department), Dr Mukesh Mahajan (Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry Department Mandi), Dr Saurabh Bharti and Sneha from Brooke Institute, along with veterinarians like Dr Navneet Chandel, Dr Navjot, Dr Ishwar Das and others.

Dr AK Panda, Dean of Dr GC Negi College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, congratulated the team and called the initiative a commendable step toward promoting animal welfare and rural development.