Pet parents urge govt to set up 24x7 emergency vet services
Times of India | 10 October 2025Having faced harrowing times trying to find clinics with a veterinary surgeon at night, pet parents are seeking govt support to develop infrastructure for emergency treatment or medical care services for both pets and strays in the city.
Last Sunday, Rudra J Sinha, a surgeon at a city private hospital, faced a challenging time attending to his Cocker Spaniel. The dog, River, sustained a cut in a leg vein after jumping on a plate at home around 10 pm.
In the absence of a veterinary surgeon at a private clinic near Mukundapur, Sinha himself stitched up River's leg in the clinic's OT.
"In cases of vascular trauma like what River suffered, it is vital to stop the bleeding quickly. Being a surgeon, I could operate on my pet in the clinic's facility. But other pet parents have to depend entirely on clinics and mostly end up losing their companions due to the lack of emergency vet services," Sinha said.
Orthopedic surgeon Sanjay Sen, who has a Lhasa Apso and takes care of about 400 strays, recounted a similar tale. "Some days ago, my dog developed breathing issues at night, with a blockage in its intestine. We searched for a clinic to admit it. I finally sought help of NGO members and found a clinic at Behala where my pet was treated on a special arrangement. Normally, the clinics lack emergency facilities, and I keep facing the same trouble whenever any stray gets injured in accidents at night," Sen said.
While dog grooming centres have mushroomed across the city, they don't address medical exigencies. "If these grooming centres come up with OTs and employ a vet surgeon for round-the-clock service, this will save lives of many pets," said pet parent Arushi Bhattacharya.
Animal activist and founder of Cape Foundation Radhika Bose said it is also difficult to find ambulances to shift critically injured dogs to hospital.
"We need emergency vet services to save animals that succumb to injuries for want of timely intervention."
Rana Ganguly, who runs a private vet clinic in Tollygunge, said: "Only one govt vet hospital in Salt Lake remains open at night, but that is not adequate. We request the govt to introduce 24x7 emergency services at all vet hospitals."
An official of the state animal welfare department said all vet hospitals are not in a position to start round-the-clock services now as there is a shortage of veterinary surgeons and para-vets. "We are looking for help from private clinics to start emergency or critical care services," the official said.
