(IN) No free treatment at animal hospital..

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The only animal hospital in the city, the Bai Sakarbai Dinshaw Petit Hospital

for Animals in Parel, has introduced a new set of rules for admitting animals.

While the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) - the body

that runs the hospital - claims this will prevent touts posing as activists from

" misusing their charity " , animal lovers have raised objections to certain rules.

 

On Monday, animal lover Dhrutiman Joshi, who went to admit two 12-day-old

kittens, was surprised when he was asked to pay Rs 2,000 as a fee under the

'owner' category. " Usually, I admit strays and the hospital treats them for

free. I was shocked to learn of the new rule on Monday, " said Joshi.

 

Usually, when people bring in animals, the hospital admits them under two main

categories - stray free or owned. Animals were treated for free under the first

category. But now, animal lovers will have to shell out deposits starting from

Rs 200 (birds) to Rs 2,500 (cattle) to admit any animal, plus a maintenance fee

for their treatment.

 

Joshi brings 5-10 pets per week and are familiar with the procedures. " Earlier,

we only had to pay for cremation if the animal died. Also, some people pay the

hospital voluntarily. But, under the new rule, besides the Rs 1,000 fee, I had

to sign a certificate which stated that since the animals were strays, I had no

rights over them, " he said.

 

However, while animal lovers cry foul over the new rules, hospital authorities

said they had to do so " to prevent the hospital from shutting down " . For the

last few months, the hospital has been running short of funds and has not

received any governmental support either.

 

" I have introduced the rules to stop touts who misuse our charity. Usually,

touts posing as activists, would tell people to pay them Rs 1,000 to get their

pets treated and then admit the animals under the stray category, " said Colonel

JC Khanna, secretary of SPCA.

 

" We have incurred phone and electricity bills amounting to Rs 6-7 lakh, " said Dr

Yuvraj Kaginkar, hospital manager.