The free treatment of pets at the Chennai Corporation’s veterinary clinics has been disrupted due to delay in procurement of drugs.
Visitors who take their pets to the Corporation veterinary clinics in Kannamapet, Nungambakkam and Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar are not able to get them treated and are thus forced to take the animals to private veterinary clinics or the veterinary college hospital.
“The clinics do not have dewormer, antibiotics, antihistamine, suture threads and anaesthetic injection. Pets are just administered first-aid and sent away to other facilities such as the veterinary college,” said a resident.
Around 15 to 20 pets are taken to the clinics every day. The drugs are usually procured at an estimated cost of Rs. 4 lakh from the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation. The work on procurement of drugs is usually completed by July. But the drugs have not been procured yet.
Over 80 per cent of the pets taken to such clinics are dogs and 10 per cent are cats. The mass immunisation of dogs has also stopped owing to shortage of syringes. The first round was done in Ambattur, Kodambakkam, Valasaravakkam, Alandur, Perungudi and Sholinganallur. “Procurement of drugs will happen shortly,” said an official of Chennai Corporation.
