The incident at Green Park Metro Station, wherein three stray dogs and a puppy were brutally stabbed, has once again exposed the pathetic conditions of stray animals roaming across the national Capital.
Dr HC Dandotiya, District Animal Husbandry Officer (South Delhi) told Millennium Post that veterinary doctors in his department treated around 70-80 strays daily, most of whom suffer from some infection or are weak.
Dr Dandotiya said around 4 lakh cows live in the city, of which, around 3,000 are stray. Many a time, these 'holy' animals block traffic, busy chewing garbage mostly plastic. He said in most cases cows fell ill because of consuming plastic, strewn on roads.
Dr Dandotiya said two months ago, a sick cow was brought to one of their hospitals. Doctors managed to save it only after taking out 4kg plastic from its stomach.
He added that there have been instances when cows have led to accidents.
Dr Dandotiya said the Delhi government, which at present runs four cow shelters, is considering to build more such facilities to accommodate cows.
Dr Dandotiya said vaccination among stray dogs in the city was a challenge, adding that in many cases they were infected by maggots.
Dr C Bhattacharya at a government-run veterinary facility in Madanpur Khadar said they received 10-20 cases of animal abuse every month.
Besides physical abuse, city veterinarians receive cases, wherein animals die after getting severely injured in accidents. Sanjeev Kumar of the Sanjay Gandhi Animal Centre said he received 5-6 cases every day, in which animals were hit by vehicles and suffered severe injuries.
The veterinarians, however, lauded the role of some NGOs that work along with hospitals in treating animals in the city.