The doctors in a Gurugram veterinary hospital recently performed an emergency operation on Pablo, a boxer who was brought bleeding because of low platelet count, and Casper, who has a life-threatening intestinal perforation. The two dogs are among the many examples of what pets are facing during the lockdown. Doctors at the CGS Hospital in Gurugram get 30 – 40 calls a day from pet lovers after they started free Tele-OPD for pet lovers.

Located in DLF Phase 3, Gurugram, CGS Hospital (A Unit Of CGS Charitable Trust) under the aegis of DLF Foundation, started free Tele-OPD where pet lovers describe the problem over the phone to doctors who then prescribe basic medicines for them. Serious cases like that of Pablo and Casper emergency operations are being carried out by the team of doctors. The hospital has been attending to emergencies like cesarean delivery, fractures and minor surgeries of pets. " The lockdown has taught us that we are not the only ones who are affected," said Dr Samar Mahendran.

Casper a 4 years pet dog was facing serious medical complications, his owners rushed him to CGS Hospital, on further investigation a life-threatening intestinal perforation was discovered. Casper was in a septic shock and the doctor decided to operate on him immediately without wasting any time. The Doctors extracted a big mango seed which had led to a tear in the intestine. " Due to the excellent expertise of the doctor and his team, Casper is on his way to recovery and was discharged on 10th April. The Doctors also performed a cesarean delivery on a stray dog, the litter of three pups are healthy and being taken care by the hospital staff.

Not only the pets, the hospital has been taking care of the strays also. With restaurants, eateries and dine outs closed, the availability of food for abandoned animals has reduced. Stray abandoned animals are among the many who are suffering in the lockdown. People are following the governments directive to the core, residents of plotted colonies are not opening their gates to step out, leave alone feed street animals. As a result, stray dogs and community animals have been the worst affected.

To tackle the situation and prevent the animals from suffering, Doctors of CGS Hospital are feeding fresh food twice a day to over 500 dogs and cats in the city since the lockdown. According to Dr Mahendran, the stray street animals are being given a balanced diet of carbohydrates and proteins. The hospital has also provided various Animal NGO’s over 600 kgs of packaged food for feeding stray animals in other parts of the city.

BJP MP Maneka Gandhi has also urged people to feed stray dogs, the Animal Welfare Board of India has issued an advisory to all Chief Secretaries of States regarding caring of animals during the lockdown. In Gurugram, the Police have allowed animal lovers to go out feed stray animals.