Central Veterinary Hospital in Srinagar has no X-Ray facility
Srinagar, Jan 28: The Central Veterinary Hospital (CVH) Srinagar, Kashmir’s largest hospital for animals lacks basic facilities, including an X-ray unit, adequate staff, and essential supplies. Animal rights groups and pet owners have raised concerns about the hospital's inability to provide adequate animal care.
According to reports, the hospital's X-ray facility has been non-functional since 2014, when the old unit was damaged in floods.
This was highlighted recently by Animal Rescue Kashmir, an NGO working for animal welfare in Kashmir. The lack of X-ray facility poses a serious risk to sick and injured animals as it becomes difficult to diagnose and treat their condition, Dawood Mohammad, Founder ARK said. He said while for humans it is possible to avail any facility, including private, for animals, there is none. When contacted, the Medical Superintendent of CVH, Dr Altaf Gilani acknowledged the lack of X-Ray at the hospital. He said that a new digital X-ray unit has been procured, it is yet to be operational due to pending safety certification. The MS attributed the delay to the vendor's payment, which is currently with the J&K government treasury and is expected to be cleared within a couple of weeks. “ We are hopeful that the X Ray unit will be ready for use soon,” he said.
The hospital is also struggling to provide essential medicines and supplies for animals other than livestock, a delegation of pet owners told Greater Kashmir. The MS said basic supplies such as IV fluids which are common to all animals are provided free of cost to every animal at the hospital. However, he said, most of the available stock and supplies are received for livestock, while 90% of the patients are pets and strays. The MS contended that pet owners and NGOs should arrange for specific medicines and supplies for their cases, as the hospital is unable to provide them.
Many people have also alleged long waiting times for surgeries and procedures. The MS however defended that the hospital's surgical team is performing around four surgeries per day, with a waiting period of no more than a week.
Dawood Mohammad said a long queue of injured animals has been awaiting surgeries, the wait time spanning over weeks and months. “Stray animals are no one’s priority in Kashmir, and no one takes responsibility for them. For NGOs like ours, we have to struggle every day with an inadequate and insensitive system,” he said.
Animal welfare groups have highlighted the need for improved facilities, particularly for stray animals.
Kashmir has a mammoth population of stray dogs. By previous estimates, the stray dog population in Srinagar alone is over 90,000. The population is prone to injuries on busy roads in addition to facing the regular and expected burden of diseases. To add to this, stray equine and abandoned pets, mostly cats, are also a population that needs treatment and care often. “However, there is no redressal mechanism for such cases,” ARK said.