A motorist sustained injuries after his motorcycle collided with a stray horse on a street at Kasthurinaickenpalayam, near Vadavalli, in Coimbatore city on Tuesday. The horse bit him before running away.
Surveillance camera footage recorded on November 4 evening showed two horses running along a narrow street with a blind curve. A motorist approaching from the opposite direction collided with one of them. The rider fell on the road, and the horse bit him before fleeing.
Amarnath, a local resident, said the injured man works as a drinking water tap operator in the area. “There are around 10 horses roaming within a one-kilometre radius here. Such incidents have not happened before,” he said.
An animal welfare activist said the horse might have been frightened and warned that the number of horses in the city is large and growing. “This is a man-made situation. Owners let horses roam freely and take them back only when mares give birth, after which the foals are sold. Even if the Corporation fines them for letting the animals roam freely, the practice continues. Stricter measures such as microchipping and maintaining ownership records are needed to prevent such incidents,” the activist said.
A senior Corporation official said they are exploring options for NGOs to manage the horses, as the Corporation has no facility or manpower to care for them, and that a permanent solution will be worked out.
Published – November 06, 2025 08:42 am IST
