New Town to get first state-run pet burial ground

Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) is setting up the first state-run burial ground for pets in New Town.

HIDCO has already set up the first state-run pet park at one corner of the senior citizen's park known as Swapno Bhor in New Town.

The pet burial ground will be built on a three-acre land in Action Area I behind the market of New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) near the Unitech housing complex. Construction work for the

project is underway and the boundary wall has been almost completely set up.

The burial ground will have an office-cum-reception, registration office, a mourner's corner and a parking lot. The mourners will be allowed to put up photographs of their beloved pets on the walls. HIDCO is currently calculating the fees that will be charged for the burial services.

In metropolitan cities, getting a place to bury the pets loved so dearly by the owners for several years is a major problem. There are two private pet burial grounds in South 24 Parganas.

Admiring HIDCO's move, an animal welfare activist who runs a veterinary hospital in South 24 Parganas said: "It is a very good move. Pet-owners in cities run from pillar to post trying to find a place to bury their dear pets."

Dr Subhas Sarkar, a well-known veterinary doctor, said that setting up a burial ground for the pet is a must in a city where the number of people keeping pets has gone up significantly over the years.

"There are very large breeds in the city like St Bernard, Great Dane, Bull Mastiff and Chinese Chow Chow in addition to Labrador, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Dalmatian and Rottweiler. Most owners consider pets to be a part of their family and when they die they find it difficult to bury them in a proper place. A pet burial ground will solve a long-standing problem faced by pet owners."