Pet owners left in the lurch due to staff crunch at Veterinary Centre

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Owing to the lack of sufficient doctors and staff, a trip to the District Veterinary Centre at PMG Junction is proving to be an ordeal for pet parents. They allege that while the situation has been like this for many months, no action has been taken by the authorities to address it. Pet owners point out this has proven detrimental to pet care and treatment in the city which were already in dire straits.On a daily basis, the veterinary centre attends to more than 200 cases. Even during lockdown, the centre recorded over 140 cases daily. 

To control crowding during the pandemic and ensure social distancing, an advanced token system for smart queue management was also implemented at the entrance with the support of the district panchayat. However, pet owners opine that though the centre was functioning smoothly during the pandemic, the situation now has worsened with veterinary doctors unavailable to attend even emergency cases.

“I have been a regular visitor to the district veterinary centre for many years. Over the last few months, the centre has been considerably short staffed. With only two doctors available, people are forced to wait for longer hours than before,” said Swaroopa Kartha, a pet parent from Enchakkal. She added that when she enquired with the authorities at the centre, she was informed that one veterinary doctor had retired and no steps were taken to appoint another in his place. Another pet owner said, “Due to the shortage of doctors and staff, many pet owners are looking for alternatives. Doctors are not available to attend to even emergency cases which is putting the lives of pets at risk.”

Latha Indira, secretary of People for Animals, Thiruvananthapuram, said, “Many veterinary centres and hospitals in the city are facing shortage of doctors and staff. The veterinary hospital in Pettah is in dire straits and doesn’t even have the necessary facilities to attend to emergency cases. Even the super specialty Government Veterinary (Referral) Hospital at Kudappanakkunu is not fully equipped. No steps have been taken by the authorities concerned to rectify the situation,” said Latha.

Meanwhile, the authorities at the District Veterinary Centre admitted that there was a shortage in the number of doctors and staff. “We have already discussed the issue with the higher authorities but we haven’t received any response yet. We are also yet to be paid the salary for the last two months,” said an official at the centre.