City animal shelter becomes a death trap

Nine dogs impounded from Pune Society for Prevention of Cruel

ty to Animals

Anuradha Mane Wadhwani
Nine dogs, whose quality of life had been severely compromised, were impounded from the Pune Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PSPCA) in a raid carried out by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) and People for Ethical Treatment for Animals (Peta) on Thursday.
The animals were sent to the Blue Cross of Pune for further care and treatment. Moreover, a paralysed dog and a kitten had to be euthanised after three different veterinarians opined that their quality of life could not be restored. The raid was conducted following an inspection by co-opted members of the AWBI, earlier this week on Monday. Among other problems, it was found that the 118 dogs in the shelter were living in exceptionally filthy conditions and the poorly staffed organisation did not have personnel to take care of the ailing animals.
“Firstly, the ill animals were kept with others, leading to a high risk of infection. Secondly, the area where the dogs are kept is unhygienic and not ventilated. The quantity of food provided to the animals is also insufficient making many of them malnourished,” said Anuradha Sawhney, co-opted member of the AWBI, who was part of the team. She is also the chief functionary of Peta, India.
When NG Jayasimha and Dharmesh Solanki of the AWBI conducted an inspection on Monday, they found two dead animals lying in the backyard. Following this, two more dogs were found dead in the backyard on Thursday without being disposed on time. “It is very unsanitary to keep the dead animals on the premises as more diseases could spread,” Jayasimha told DNA.
Moreover, it was found that open syringes and vials were disposed of along with the regular garbage. “The biomedical waste could pose a serious health hazard to not only animals, but also to humans,” said Sawhney.
The ‘drinking’ water that was provided to the dogs was in fact, the muddy water that remained after mopping the floor.
Animal welfare officer Manoj Oswal, who had conducted a secret inspection of the PSPCA on May 5, said, “There was no trained staff except two vet doctors. The manager of the shelter was employed very recently and has no prior experience with animal shelter. Neither he was provided any training, nor he had an idea on where the office records were kept. The vet spent most of the time with ‘paying patients’ at the OPD and visited the animals in the shelter only sporadically. Most animals in the shelter remain untreated.”
Earlier, two active trustees of the SCPA, Preeti Bhatt and Mala Kumar had given a written complaint to Oswal about the malpractices in SCPA.
Earlier, when DNA had visited SCPA in January, Bhatt said, “There are 13 trustees, but only three have been active. Our bank balance has almost depleted. There is barely anything left to pay out the employees’ salaries. Recently, a dog with a broken jaw was mistaken as being rabid and thus was not treated. We called an outside vet to check the dog. He said that the dog was not rabid but was a hit-and-run case. For 15 days, it was kept without treatment and saline. Soon, it began to have maggots in the mouth and met a horrible end.”
Speaking about the further course of action, Sawhney said that the AWBI would send a legal notice to SCPA regarding this issue. Moreover, their financial and administrative documents will be scrutinised. “We will keep a close watch on the animals at SCPA as well as those in Blue Cross. We have asked for the current committee to be dissolved and also to disallow SCPA from taking in any more animals,” she said.
(With inputs from Neha Madaan)