Civic animal health services to get facelift

Mumbai: On Monday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) passed a proposal that will boost animal health services in the city. Civic services pertaining to animal health will have a completely new department like the one which takes care of human health facilities.

Under the new department, various civic services for animals will be available including sophisticated veterinary hospitals, regular veterinary hospitals, a separate laboratory for zoonotic diseases, the Deonar slaughterhouse, animal counting, dog control office, dog sterilisation, dog licence, and a graveyard for dogs and cats, etc. The new civic-run animal health hospital with sophisticated technology will come up at Mahalakshmi. The hospital will be equipped with facilities such as CT scan, MRI, x-ray, and operation theatre with latest technology etc. The hospital will be able to accommodate 300 small animals.

Further, the department will also keep an eye on pet stores to see if they are violating norms laid down by the animal welfare board of India. The main office of the department will be at the new multi-specialty veterinary hospital in Khar.

According to civic officials, a separate department will ensure better control of diseases which are transferred to man by animals. “Animal health is related to human health, which is why ill health of animals can affect human beings’ health. More than 300 diseases originate from degraded animal meat, degraded animal products, animal excreta and so on,” said Yogesh Shetye, general manager of the Deonar abattoir.