Camel, tortured by landlord, undergoes major surgery

KARACHI:

Chandni, the two-year-old she camel brutally tortured by a landlord in Sukkur for straying into his fields, has undergone a major surgery at a shelter home in Murad Memon Goth.

According to the shelter management, a team of veterinarians successfully repaired her fractured jaw by inserting rods and a supporting frame to restore it to position. During the same procedure, vets also amputated her severely infected hind leg to prevent the spread of a potentially fatal infection.

The animal was administered anesthesia and strong painkillers throughout the surgery.

Chandni had been battling multiple life-threatening injuries, including a crushed leg, a broken jaw, a burnt tongue and a tick-borne blood infection.

Before the surgery, her blood tests and X-rays were carried out, while two other camels, Kimi and Kelly, were screened as possible blood donors.

Shelter officials said Chandni had been kept on a special diet comprising camel's milk, carrot paste, bottle gourd, rice, jantar leaves and jaggery, and was drinking water in satisfactory amounts.

While terming the surgery a success, the management said that the next few hours remain critical.

"She is under intensive care, but her survival now depends as much on medical support as on prayers," a shelter representative said.