Feathers fly over injured peacock

Good Samaritan had trouble getting the bird treated as he was turned down by several veterinary hospitals and animal rescue agencies

Being an early bird helped Sanjeev Verma save the life of the national bird on Monday. The East of Kailash resident was out for a morning walk despite the chilly weather when he saw a peacock being attacked by a bunch of stray dogs at the local park.


bird in the hand: Sanjeev Verma (right) was instrumental in saving the
peacock's life. Pic/Imtiyaz Khan

Before Verma could reach the spot the canines had already ripped off a piece of flesh from the bird's back. After much effort, and with the assistance of co-morning walkers, he managed to save it from the clutches of the dogs. By this time the bird was already bleeding profusely.

Verma rushed to nearby veterinary hospitals only to be turned down by three in a row, with some citing reasons as ridiculous as: "It's the national bird and we can't take a risk. If the bird dies, we will be blamed for that." Finally, the bleeding peacock was treated at a pet clinic in Saket, with over 40 stitches to cover the wounds.

Dr S Kumar who treated the peacock said: "The bird was brought in a critical condition. I took the challenge and after 2-3 hours of surgery, the bird became conscious again."

Next, Verma contacted leading animal rescue agencies so that the bird could be kept under expert care, but the same story was repeated. All gave different reasons and declined the Good Samaritan's request. By then, it was past noon, and as a last resort, Verma decided to take the peacock to the Delhi Zoo, where a caretaker kept him waiting for an hour. Later the officials excused themselves saying: "We do not accept animals randomly. This is against the rules of the zoo."

Verma, a power project consultant by profession, said: "Lakhs of rupees are spent by the Indian government on advertisements to save animals. But what I witnessed today didn't justify their acts. I kept moving with the injured birds to different government hospitals and establishments. But no one was ready to accept the injured peacock. This was really sad."

With a good deed seemingly going in vain and in a city hostile to the national bird, its saviour made frantic calls to friends to find it out if anyone at all was willing to shelter the bird. His struggle finally came to an end eight hours after the beginning of his ordeal, when the Charity Bird's Hospital in Chandni Chowk agreed to take the bird. Verma paid Rs 1,000 to the hospital authorities to take care of the peacock.