Even though, legally, they cannot be transported across states, the arrival of camels in the city ahead of the Bakrid festival has become an annual feature over the past decade.
A first batch, comprising 15 of the animals, arrived in the city on Wednesday to be slaughtered for Bakrid, which falls on Monday.
The camels were purchased from Rajasthan and transported to the city. They have been housed on Lalakonda Street in Old Washermenpet. The 15 camels, reportedly purchased at a cost of Rs. 5,500, would meet the demand in the city on Bakrid day, the buyers said.
Gauhar Azeez, an animal welfare activist, who filed a case in the Madras High Court against the slaughtering of camels for Bakrid more than a decade ago, said that it had become a practice in the city only in the last 13 years. In 2012, nearly 700 camels were transported to Tamil Nadu from Rajasthan, she added.
In the city, a team led by Ms. Azeez had rescued four camels, which were then rehabilitated in the Pinjrapole (a rehabilitation centre for sick cattle and other animals) in Ayanavaram. Of the four rescued, three of them had cancer and the fourth was a sub-adult animal. The cancer-affected animals later died and only of the camels is still surviving at the centre, she said.
Recalling another incident, Ms. Azeez said a pregnant camel was brought to the city for slaughtering last year. The animal had delivered a day before the celebrations, but, along with its newborn, was slaughtered on Bakrid day.
The animal welfare board of India, the statutory body to prevent such illegal slaughtering, has not taken effective steps against the activities, animal welfare activists said.
