Hyderabad: Lack of a governmental emergency centre for animals is the prime reason for private veterinary doctors being forced to take these cases, said veterinarians in the city angry that negligence cases are being booked against them.
The recent police case in Banjara Hills Police Station against the Animal Care Clinic for the death of 11-month old dog Husky who lived in Pragathi Bhavan, a cross breed between a bulldog and pitbull terrier, has put them in a spot about whether they must take these high risk cases.
A senior private vet, on condition of anonymity, explained, "In many cross breeds in Hyderabad, there are underlying congenital diseases which are never diagnosed. There is no check done on the pedigree of the animal or records maintained. There is no proper documentation of their lineage in terms of disease patterns, genetic predisposition or other medical conditions. Due to this reason, we see quite a few cross breeds dying too early.”
Doctors state that the role of pet owners and care-givers is also very important. While dog owners claim to love their dogs, there is also a huge medical expense which most of them are often not willing to incur.
A simple blood test of Rs 2,000 is not agreed to by most of VIP clients who refuse to pay and opt for over-the-counter medication. The vets state that these problems are rampant but they are highlighted only when there is a VIP dog dying.
The biggest challenge they face is that pet owners do not maintain proper animal history, list of medications given from time to time, number of doctor visits for ailments and also problems in the life cycle of the dog.
With these details inadequate or missing altogether, an emergency visit merely leads to use of life-saving drugs or a wait-and-watch policy.
The viscera of VIP dog Husky has been sent for post-mortem by the Animal Husbandry Department. The report will be available in two days and department stated that action will be taken accordingly.
Meanwhile, the Animal Care Clinic officials at Banjara Hills are tight-lipped and scared. They stated that the government officials are looking into the details and cannot divulge details that happened on the day Husky came to their clinic.
