No vets– Pet parents suffer during lockdown

Pets on one hand were a stress buster for the owners during the lockdown, but on the other hand, owners had to face problems finding vets.

Bangalore- Owning a pet can be a great stress buster but lockdown and unavailability of veterinary doctors made things difficult for pet parents.

In the initial months of the lockdown, commuting with the pets became difficult and owners had to struggle for permission from the government to even go to the veterinary hospitals.

Laxmi Gowda, a pet owner said, “We mostly had a smooth time with our pet, as he kept us engaged during the lockdown. But the challenge we faced was finding a veterinary doctor and animal food management.”

“There wasn’t a medical emergency anytime, but we had to get him vaccinated after certain durations. Stocking up food helped a little,” she added.

Another pet owner from Whitefield said, “We did not have any emergency during the strict eight week-long lockdown period. Hence, it was not an issue for us.”

Food went off the shelves very quickly as there was a sense of panic during the initial days. Therefore, we had to make a few adjustments with the brands,” she further said.

Sneha Salgana, Assistant Manager of Communications at PFA wildlife rescue and conservation centre said, “During the initial days of lockdown, we faced a bit of difficulty because we had to get a vehicle pass to move around. Obtaining that pass by approaching the commissioner was not easy; therefore mobility was a huge issue.”

“Despite all these challenges we went on with our rescue program. Though, the pace of the rescue operations was slower than usual,” she added.

Dr. Anubhav Mishra, a doctor at Cartman Animal Hospital said “Pets, especially dogs who are  sensitive, faced anxiety issues because they were locked inside houses for a long time. We were taking emergency services in our hospital, and we got a few cases too, but the numbers were very less as compared to normal days. Many hospitals also provided online consultation, but we were not doing so,” he added.

Dr. Ravi, who runs an animal clinic said, “Pet owners had a really tough time, as only a few veterinary hospitals were working with restricted timings during the lockdown. Getting pets into the hospitals became a nightmare for pet parents as all the roads were blocked and police used to stop people and enquire about every little thing”

He continued, “Animal food and accessories ran out of stock very soon. Even the pet hospitals did not have enough stocks of medicine and pet foods. Lockdown made life very difficult for both pets and pet owners.”