Plans afoot for satellite city's first animal hospital

Animal lovers in Navi Mumbai have a reason to rejoice, as plans are afoot to construct a much-needed animal hospital in the satellite city. Although the plans are in its initial stages, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) is moving swiftly and has begun the groundwork for the facility, identifying a 1,000 sq-metre plot for the same at Sector-7E in Kalamboli.u00a0The task of constructing the hospital would be handed out to a third party, which has not been finalised yet.

Animal health, a top priority: The animal hospital planned for Navi Mumbai will be built on the lines of BSPCA in Parel. File pic

"We have planned to construct an animal hospital in Navi Mumbai. The idea behind the move is to ensure that animals don't have to suffer due to the time it takes to reach the animal hospital in Mumbai," said Mohan Ninawe, PRO, CIDCO.u00a0"The construction work may take at least a year to complete. The hospital will tend to all types of animals," said Dr Bavaskar, chief medical officer, CIDCO.

Relief for animals
The animal hospital has been a long-standing requirement for the satellite city, which in the past has witnessed several animals losing their lives due to the delay in reaching the animal hospital in Parel.u00a0Panvel resident and animal lover Neeta Parvate who takes care of stray dogs is mourning the deaths of two dogs that died due to the time it took to reach the BSPCA (Bombay Society for the Prevention Of Cruelty to Animals) hospital. Three months ago, a stray dog that was hit by a car had to be rushed to Parel for treatment but since it took three hours to reach the hospital, the dog's condition worsened and it expired a few hours later at the facility.u00a0

Similarly, a female dog too lost her life on November 11. The dog was suffering from canine distemper (a viral disease which affects dogs) due to which she was uneasy and needed urgent care but lost her life, as there was no animal hospital in the vicinity.

"Canine distemper is an epidemic that is increasing rapidly, infecting canines in the area. Sector 11 in Panvel has the highest cases of dogs afflicted with this viral disease. Since the affected animal needs to be isolated, the only option is to take the dog to BSPCA since it has an isolation ward," said Parvate. Hitendra Motta, who runs a private ambulance, said, " On October 8, I received a call from Taloja asking me to rush a Labrador suffering from fits to BSPCA. But we took two-and-a-half hours to reach the animal hospital in Parel.

We left in the morning and by the time we reached it was lunchtime and all the doctors had stepped out for lunch. Due to this, the treatment was delayed for approximately four hours. The dog was critical and had to remain in the hospital for 10 days. The doctors later informed us that delay in getting the animal to the hospital was the reason for the extended stay in the hospital."u00a0