Sun Oct 20 15:53:09 UTC 2024: Updated – October 20, 2024 11:06 pm ISTMobile veterinary clinic of Animal Husbandry department that was launched recently in Madurai. | Photo Credit: File Photo
After much panic a frantic call was made to the toll-free emergency number 1962 on Saturday evening to provide treatment to a puppy that had been injured in an accident in K.K. Nagar. The call was acknowledged by the centralised response team operating from Chennai stating that the call had been registered and a team would respond shortly.
But the team did not call back for more than an hour, the family raising the puppy had to clean the injury by themselves. With no response from the response team, they decided to rush the puppy to the veterinary hospital.
Despite the treatment given at the hospital, the puppy succumbed to injuries later that night. Even after a day the team had not called back to check on the emergency.Had the response from the centre been swift, the puppy could have been saved.
The public say that the functioning of the mobile veterinary vehicles launched in Madurai is appalling.
The mobile veterinary vehicles were said to be camping in six divisions – Madurai (Madurai East and West, Tirupparankundram), Usilampatti, Melur, Tirumangalam, Sedapatti and Vadipatti. Each vehicle has one doctor, one para veterinary worker, one supporting staff and one driver.
As the vehicles would be focusing on conducting camps in the morning, it was said that it would operate as an ambulance from afternoon till evening.
The complaints registered through 1962 would be received through a centralised operating centre in Chennai. They would then be forwarded to the vehicles operating at the location of the complaint.
“The whole purpose of acting rapidly to emergency calls has failed as I did not receive any call back from any officials or mobile veterinary vehicles when I registered an emergency with 1962,” said the resident.
Commenting on the issue, an advocate named S. Sivasubramanian who has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) with the Madras High Court insisting to rectify and increase the number of mobile veterinary units in the State, said, “During several instances my friends and even myself had made calls through 1962 but did not get any proper response.”Most of the time, the response would be just instructing the caller to extend first aid to the injured animal, he added. In addition, when it is a stray animal, they do not even care to give any instruction or call back regarding the emergency, he noted.
“Few months back when I contacted the toll-free number 1962 for treatment of a one-month-old puppy which was injured in an accident, there was no reply from their side and the dog even died before I received any calls,” Mr. Sivasubramanian said.
As there seems to be no accountability for the missed and failed calls received through the toll-free number, there should be some system for regularising it, he added.
Also, action should be taken to cover all the animals including stray dogs and cats for the emergency treatment, he noted.
S. Murugeswari, Honorary Animal Welfare Representative, said, though it could be learned that they have limited time and workforce to cover all animals, efforts should be taken to utilise all the availbale resources like animal rescue centres and Non-Governmental Organisations in times of emergency.
“There are plenty of complaints regarding private rescue operators as they fail to respond to emergency calls. As they get funds from the government there should be some checks and balances to regulate them”, she added.
“As they collect donation from both private individuals and government through various schemes like Vallalar Palluyir Kaappagangal, there should be accountability for their functioning,” she added.Published – October 20, 2024 09:23 pm IST
Copyright© 2024, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.
First Piper 